Just a Minute . . .
It is amazing how often the word love is used. It is equally amazing for what it is used. People can love just about anything. From pets to food, from houses to cars, and especially other people – all of these can be preceded by the word love.
It is unfortunate the word has become so diluted. It is difficult to determine whether a person only prefers something, or if there is a willingness to make a life-long commitment.
There should never be any confusion when Jesus uses the word love. As he prepared his disciples for his suffering and death, he gave them the command: “love one another.” The words were probably met with mixed emotions. This is why Jesus also added the following explanation: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Suddenly, the word took on a special meaning. The new command was not about personal preference or taste. It was about love that was unselfish and never-failing.
Jesus uses his own love as the key to understand this new command. His love brought him to this earth. It also made him endure shame, mockery and rejection. It even subjected him to the most horrible of deaths on the cross. In him, the love he commands for those who follow him is revealed in complete clarity.
What makes Jesus’ love unique is that it not only offers the encouragement to love, it also provides the reason and power to love.
Certainly there are many reasons for me to be selfish and self-centered. It is the natural response with which I am born. In contrast, there is only one reason why I can love. That is the love of Jesus. This is why I need to keep his cross before my eyes. It is also why I need to keep his resurrection fresh in my mind. Here is where love begins, grows, and overcomes every selfish thought and desire I may have. Here is where I recognize what love really is.
Roughly forty years after the disciple John heard Jesus’ words, he wrote: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). He learned the lesson Jesus taught and lived it without compromise. As I hear Jesus’ new command, “love one another,” how will I respond? As I learn of my Savior’s unselfish love for me, and as I grow in that love, there is only one response: I will love others as Jesus loves me.
In HIS awesome service,
Pastor Dennis
