John 15:12-15

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command.¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

“Love each other as I have loved you …”

The will of God is for us to love him and share his love with one another because he wants everyone saved. Jesus didn’t say to love another “if you want to” or “if you feel like it,” or “in any way one sees fit.” He said he commands it and that it must be as he loved them. Therefore, loving another is neither an option nor a desirable, nor should it be done in just any way. 

As difficult as this may sound, it isn’t really difficult when you truly understand the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us – the humiliating and gruesome death on the cross so that we can live. When you love and abide in Jesus and his words, loving others will come naturally and with joy.

It’s important to note that Jesus’ love was God-centred, sacrificial and full of compassion even in death. Jesus didn’t die to fulfill people’s desires of the world.  Jesus laid down his life for his friends, for their salvation and for God’s glory. It was through his obedience to God, his servanthood and his love that we could be reconciled to God.

So, loving others and sacrificing ourselves is not in vain. Laying down our lives should not be oriented around people’s pleasure, worldly gains, self-recognition, or for the perception of being a “nice” or “righteous” person. Nor, for the sake of our friends, should it involve doing things that are contrary to God’s commands or standards. But, it ultimately serves the purpose of bringing others to God, not to us, so that they can have an everlasting relationship with him too. 

As vessels of God’s love, we must examine our hearts as to whether the love that “saved a wretch like me” is flowing through us every day. Let’s ask ourselves: Do we truly understand the love of Jesus? Do we eagerly desire that our friends be closer to God and serve his church? Do our lives really reflect and speak of Jesus’ love to our friends and the world? A love that they so desperately need right now?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your precious gift of Jesus and everlasting salvation. We pray that we are forever grateful for your sacrificial love and that we boldly share this good news with others around us. Please help us deny ourselves, love you more and obey your commandments every day so that your love flows through us to others ─ especially in the church. Thank you for blessing our hearts to gladly serve you and your church with gratitude and joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.