Love each other as I have loved you

Repeatedly people struggle with this idea of love. How can you command someone to love? Isn’t love supposed to be a feeling? Unfortunately, in this respect, we have become slaves of what social media portrays, to only love those who we call ‘friends’. What Jesus essentially speaks about here, is far different. Unlike the instructions of this world, Jesus tells us to love our enemies too. 

It’s certainly easy to love people who love you back. But what about those that have hurt or wronged you? Are you supposed to love them too? Surely not. So, why does God want us to love those who are hard to love? One thing we can be sure of is: He will never command us to do what is impossible. As Jesus said, ‘with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26). Our ability to love others on our own is limited. It’s circumstantial, conditional and subjective. But with God’s help, we are able to love the way Jesus does, loving EVERYONE at ALL TIMES. 

God is love (1 John 4:8). Therefore, as we draw closer to God, that love flows from us and holds qualities of God’s love.  As followers of Christ, we are able to show love as we’ve experienced it (1 John 4:19). If the Almighty and Sovereign God came down to earth to lay down His life for someone as wretched and sinful as us, before we even knew Him, surely we can follow this example. That willingness to love those who don’t deserve it, is what it means to truly follow Jesus. This is the kind of love God commands of us- to love everyone, even the unlovable. 

So the next time you find yourself struggling to love someone, remember the command God has placed on us: ‘love each other as I have loved you’.

Are you able to love the way Jesus loves us?