LOVE ONE ANOTHER
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.
1 John 2:7-8 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
John says he is not writing “a new commandment” but rather “an old one.” Then later he says it is “also new.” This commandment is “to love one another.” Love is an interesting word. We love chocolate cake, football, our wife, and God. It seems to be a word we throw around for a lot of things. Perhaps the overuse of the word has led to the decline in its meaning. The “old commandment” to love one another had always been around. But the people of Jesus’ day had defined loving one another as loving those who looked like us, thought like us, and acted like us. Then Jesus came along and said something ridiculous—He said we should “love your enemies.” But Jesus didn’t just talk about love, Jesus demonstrated loving others by the way He lived. He was the light that came into darkness to show us the true way to live. When Jesus sat down to eat the Passover meal with His disciples before He was arrested and crucified Jesus chose to wash the feet of the disciples. This was a supreme act of love and service. Jesus didn’t just wash the feet of Peter, Andrew, James, and John—His besties. Jesus also washed the feet of Judas—the guy who was about to betray Him for thirty pieces of silver. Jesus showed us love by eating meals with tax collectors and sinners. The religious leaders were upset by this action because they didn’t believe those people deserved to be loved. If we were to practice this concept today how would our lives be different? Jesus took an old commandment and made it new by showing a new application—love one another means love everyone.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit help me to see the people that need love in my world. Help me to love the unlovely. Help me to express Your love to my world by my words and actions.
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