NO EXCEPTIONS!
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
John 13:34-35 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Jesus is giving his last big discourse to His followers. He tells them that He is going away, and they won’t be able to come with Him. Peter says he wants to go with Jesus, but Jesus says he can’t come with Him right now. In the middle of this dialogue about His coming death and leaving earth Jesus throws in a “new commandment.” This is important for the disciples to know at this specific time. Jesus tells us to “Love each other.” That doesn’t sound too hard, until He throws in the measuring stick for our love. We are to measure our love for one another by the way Jesus has loved us. That becomes the tough part. How has Jesus loved us? He died for us when we didn’t deserve it. He died for all humanity when He knew that some would reject His love and choose to live selfish lives. He died for people that tortured Him and hung Him on a cross. We like loving people that are like us. People who think like us, dress like us, go to church like us, and have the same color of skin as us. But can we love those who are really different from us? It is our love for the “unlovely” that impresses the world and gives a living example of Jesus’ love for humanity. That kind of love takes some divine help. It is not something we can do alone. We must have supernatural help from the Holy Spirit.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to be a channel of Your love for my world. Help me to love the people in my world the way You have loved me. Forgive me for being judgmental, critical, and harsh. Show me how to really love.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
I want to be a person who loves without limits.