I have been thinking about John 15:12 lately; “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” I’ve been asking what it means, and how we can do it. The first thing we have to realize is who is speaking, its Jesus, God himself, and he is saying that we have to love each other as he has loved us. So, how does God love us?
First, I see that Christ accepts us for who we are. No matter how bad things have gotten, no matter how far away from him we’ve gone, he is there urging us towards him. Secondly, Jesus challenges us to move forward, to grow closer to him, to “be perfect” as he is perfect. He also forgives us when we inevitably do not reach this perfection. Sometimes his love is tough love, he allows us to step in it so that we can be rebuked through the consequences of our sin.
Finally, Jesus died for us. He gave his life for our mistakes; paid for our sinful nature with perfect love. In the next verse he says,“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Later he calls his followers his friends. He laid down his life for us, are we willing to do that for each other? Literally? Symbolically?
How can we live out this commandment? We have to accept each other, faults and all, but at the same time show love by holding each other accountable to this and all of God’s commandments. When we fall short, we have to help each other move away from sin and closer to God. We have to be willing to use scripture to teach, reproof, and correct. Most importantly we have to put others before ourselves. Does that mean physically dying? For most of us probably not, but it will probably mean dying to our wants and desires so that we can help meet the needs of others.
Any other ideas on how God loves us? Any ideas on how we can show this kind of love to others.