John 13:34-35

 John 13:34-35 - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have Loved you, so you must Love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples.” Love; the most important thing we need in our lives. Often times Love is thought about as an emotion; which there are feelings that come with Love, but that is not all that it is. Love is so much more. We were created in Love and designed to Love. It is because of Love that Christ came to earth and died. Love is what gave Him the drive to complete all that He did for us. It is the most important charge we are given. In this passage Jesus passes on the responsibility of Love to us. He says, “As I have Loved you, so you must Love one another.” He came to earth and gave us an example of perfect Love and then said to do as He did. So, in order to see what Love truly is we must look at the life of Jesus. Love is an attitude of service. It is putting others needs before yourself. This is not natural. That is why Jesus goes on to say, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples.” He’s saying that by Loving each other we will stand out in a crowd. Most people don’t live this way, they live for themselves. So now think about this. You have one man preaching the gospel on the street corner. Yelling at the top of his lungs about how people need Jesus. Most people will see this man and think he is a crazy person. They will pay no attention to him, and probably be pushed further away from the truth. Then you have a man who goes out and buys a bunch of food. He then takes the food to the street corner and starts passing it out, with an occasional “Jesus Loves you”, or “Can I pray with you?” Which man will be more effective? Obviously it is the one who is showing Love and meeting needs. Jesus is telling us that it is not so much in what we say that will bring hearts to Him, but it is in what we do. It is about how we act towards each other and to them. Are you walking in Love? Are you preferring others above yourself? Jesus set the example and now we must follow in His footsteps. This is how the world will know we belong to Him, and even more than that, this is how the world will know Jesus. We need to be a reflection of who He is so that others can come to know Him through us.