“Our love for the Lord is evident when we love like He has loved us.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 27, 2024
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35
Jesus Christ, on the night before the hardest day of His life, where He faced death, gave His disciples the gift of love. A divine love far superior to man’s love. The Lord’s love is perfect–man’s is imperfect. Christ’s love is unconditional–man’s love is conditional. The love of God is limitless–the love of man is limited. Divine love is diverse–human love is likeminded. Think of an earthly father whose love is admirable, but still, our heavenly Father’s love far exceeds his worthy example. Our Lord lavishes His love on our lives so we can lavishly love other lives.
We are loved by the Lord to love for the Lord. Indeed, we are called by Christ to love with a love not of this world. It is a love that can only be explained by an encounter with Almighty God. His transforming power upon a humble heart, positions His disciples to love on His behalf. Our Savior’s parting words defined a radical love language, introducing the new nomenclature of how His disciples were to love. His command and promise faithfully lived are the best apologetic for faith.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16).
Our sequence of service and love starts with our brothers and sisters in the faith. If we ignore or ‘shoot our wounded,’ we are unattractive to an unloved world. Those who already live a lowly standard have little interest in exchanging it for another lowly standard. However, when we esteem the Lord’s unconditional love for one another, we are attractive to the unsaved. Thus, a fellow believer caught in sin needs our loving restoration, not harsh condemnation.
Our love for the Lord is evident when we do what we know to be true. Obedience to our loving heavenly Father draws other potential disciples into our Father’s forgiving arms of grace. I show my love for another child of God when I honor God. Like siblings whose love for each other grows as they honor their parents, so Christians who honor their heavenly Father grow in their love for one another. Like Jesus, as we face our hardest days, this is our opportunity to extend generous love to those around us. Yes, as we are loved–we become Christ’s channel to love like Him!
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:11-12).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, grow my abiding love in Christ so I am able to love like Him through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
Who needs me to unconditionally love them today with God’s love in my heart?
Related Reading
Joshua 22:5; Psalm 119:47-48, 127; John 14:15, 21; 1 John 2:5
Worship Resource
CeCe Winans: Shepherd
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