Jesus was speaking to His followers, telling them about His being the vine and them the branches, that those who remained attached to Him would grow. He spoke about them remaining in Him and His love and that their obedience to His commandments was the way to do so.
Then he very plainly said,
“THIS is my commandment…”
He didn’t want them (or us) to miss this. It’s like He was saying, “HEY! This is what I’m talking about. Do this and you’ll remain in my love and experience overflowing joy!”
So, Believer, we have a DIRECT COMMANDMENT from the Savior: Love other believers in the same way Jesus has loved you.
By the way, the word translated as “love” and “loved” is agape. It is the unconditional love that placed Jesus on the cross for us.
HE loved YOU that much.
We who claim to be His followers SHOULD be loving other followers of Jesus with this unconditional love. Some do. I’ve seen it. Others, not so much. We tend to love other believers as long as they’re meeting our expectations.
Over the millennia we have allowed division to occur in the Church for whatever reasons and now believers measure other believers by the rules of whichever division they are part of instead of by the fact that the other is a believer in Jesus.
If that’s the way you’ve been living, it’s time to make changes, because that goes against what Jesus said is His commandment. He didn’t say “Love other Baptists” or “Love other Catholics” or “Love other Pentecostals.” He said “Love one another” and it’s high time we get back to that.
It’s time we love the church down the street that is part of that other division (denomination). When they have events, go! At the very least, share about it. When they share that people have come to know Jesus there, celebrate with them.
We must stop seeing “them” as being in competition with “us.”
Our only competition is the devil who wants to steal,
kill, and destroy us, mind, body, and soul.
Today is the best day to begin obeying Jesus’ commandment. Let’s put aside our divisions and step into our commitment to follow Jesus by obeying His commandments, starting with loving one another with the same unconditional love that He lavishes on us.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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