Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself预览

A very high standard: loving as Jesus loves us

Jesus has obeyed all of God’s commandments completely, including the command to love other people. God’s love for humans goes so far that the Father sent His one and only Son, and this Son was prepared to deny Himself, to be born as a human baby, and to die a horrible death in order that people might have eternal life instead of eternal death. That is ultimate love.

It cost God everything to save humanity. John rightly says that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). And Jesus Himself says: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). It is mind-blowing that Jesus actually didn’t give His life for His friends; He reconciled us to God while we were enemies (Romans 5:10). We can hardly understand the breadth and length and height and depth of that love (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Jesus commands us to abide in His love and to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). That’s a very, very high standard. We can’t meet that standard on our own. It requires the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whose fruit (among other things) is love. That’s what Jesus says as well: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, ESV).

Do you abide in Jesus’ love?