Skip to main content

A New Commandment

      In John 13, Jesus taught His disciples saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34).

The mention of a new commandment indicates the existence of a previous one. Jesus quoted this previous commandment saying, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18)

The old commandment was given to elevate the thinking of God’s people. They were not to look out just for their own interest, but also to be mindful of the needs of others. When one loves their neighbor as themselves, they will always seek their best interest and never do anything intentionally to harm them mentally or physically.

Jesus is now raising the bar of excellence. Instead of loving our neighbor to the same degree we love ourselves, we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. When we stop and think about how much Christ loves us, we see that His love for us is far greater that we can imagine. Therefore, let us consider the great love that Christ has for us.

Jesus left everything for us. Paul states that Jesus was equal with God in the very beginning (Philippians 2:5-8). He then illustrates that Jesus left all the heavenly glory behind to become as one of us. Then, Jesus went further by obeying God to the point of death, even the death upon the cross. He suffered through all the agony on the cross for our eternal benefit.

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus saying, “…may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19) We can only begin to fathom the great love Christ has for each of us.

In the early church, we find the disciples displaying that type of love for one another. Luke records, “Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” (Acts 4:34-35)

The early church displayed great selflessness when it came to each one’s needs. They emptied themselves, just as Christ had done. They sought not their own interest but looked to help one another.

Today, when we look to the needs of others, we are fulfilling the new commandment that Christ has given. Their trouble may not be financial. They may simply need someone to listen with understanding. They may need a helping hand with a household project. Whatever form their need takes, when we show love to them, Christ is well-pleased.

God Bless each of you,

Eric Hicks

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Walk Worthy

  The Christian life has been compared to a variety of things. One in particular is that of a walk. A walk in the context of the Christian faith involves the way we live and conduct ourselves throughout our lives. The manor in which we live will either reflect Christ or it will reflect the ways of the world. Paul wrote, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1). There are a multitude of ways we must walk to be pleasing unto the Lord. We will consider a few. Bearing with one another. Walking worthy before the Lord strongly involves our conduct with one another. Paul continued, “ with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Bearing with one another is not possible apart from a humble mindset. It is the humble mindset that keeps us from thinking too highly of ourselves. It also enables us to focus on the needs of others rather than ...

Taking Time to Pray

  We have all had those busy mornings where we rush around trying to get out the door. We scrabble frantically trying to gather everything we know we are going to need for the day. We fly out the door only to remember that the cell phone is still on the dresser. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we will turn around, go back inside to retrieve our cell phone no matter how late we may be running. While this is all well and good, the question arises, what if we run out the door and remember we had not yet prayed to our heavenly Father. What would be our response. Would we stop dead in our tracks and offer a prayer before God, or continue in moving toward our daily pursuits with the intention of praying when we have more time? Our great example of a prayer life is Christ. He too had a busy schedule to maintain. Mark records, “And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ For there were many coming and going, and they did not even ...

Take Careful Aim

       In the book of Proverbs, we read that where there is no vision the people perish. Vision is an absolute necessity if one is to accomplish anything worthwhile in life. Without vision, there is no goal. Without a goal, there is no purpose. Having a vision for the future is like having a target you do not intend to miss. Like a marksman taking careful aim at his target, we too must take careful aim if we are to accomplish great things for the Lord. There are various goals we should take careful aim at. One is increasing our relationships with one another. The only way this can be accomplished is through effective communication with each other. We can do this in a variety of ways including phone calls, personal visits, and through the positive side of social media. Equally, we grow in our relationship with one another through worshipping God together. The Hebrew writer stated, “…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but ...