Love One Another [Bible Teaching]

When I was growing up in the Lord as a new believer, there were many things that attracted me. Certainly, love was not part of the subject I dearly wanted to hear a preach explain from the Bible. I wanted to hear about how to win souls, fast, pray, perform miracles, and how to become great. I am sure you can relate with this as well.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ hunger and thirst for every word that proceeds from the pages of the Bible.

In many ways, we have reduced Christianity, to what we like and what we do not like. When we like a particular theme, we go after it with all our might. If we don’t like a theme, we careless to explore what Scriptures say about it. Such is not true discipleship. A true disciple of Jesus Christ hunger and thirst for every word that proceeds from the pages of the Bible. This includes things like love, mercy, forgiveness, and so on. Christianity is about what Christ wants us to do.

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In John chapter 13, Jesus was at a crucial time of His ministry – His death and resurrection. At the Last Supper, He shared many things with His disciples both in action and in words. He showed them service to one another by washing their feet (John 13:1-17), then He revealed His betrayal – Judas (John 13:18-30), and then He told them about the need to love one another (John 13:31-35). Love was so dear to His heart that He said it was a new commandment. He knew it was the most important virtue (1 Corinthians 13:13).

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said:

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There are four (4) important truths we can learn from this text:

#1. Love is a commandment from Christ

True love that binds Christians together is from above and not earthly. When you hear a preacher or the Bible say, love one another, don’t brush it off as a human suggestion. It is our Lord’s commandment we must obey. We are commanded by Christ to love others.

#2. Love is for one another

The second thing we can notice about the text is that we are commanded to love one another. Yes, in Matthew 22:34-40, Christ said the first and last commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself but here, He elevated it and said, love one another. Indeed, in these two verses, He used this expression three times. It’s deliberately making emphasis that it is important in the kingdom of God. Show affection and be there for one another.

#3. Love is by Christ

Thirdly, we ought to know by this text that Christ is the perfect example of loving one another. He did not only teach it but He showed the way. He did it for us to know how it looks like and how to practically do it. You see, many are the examples we have in our parents, bosses, mentors, role models and others but in this instance, the perfect and exact example we have for agape love is Christ. In Romans 8:5, Bible says, God demonstrated His love towards us by the death of Christ. We must learn from Him.

#4. Love points people to Christ

Lastly, Jesus said when we love one another, we show that we are His disciples. Wow! Believe this. Many times we think prayer makes us more like Him. We think fasting makes us more like Him. We dare think doing miracles and performing wonders makes us reflect His image. But He says love for other people reflect Him more than anything else. We have a lot to unlearn and relearn.

Just as I said from the introduction, there are many things we like and highlight in our reading, studying and living but that may not be weightier matters. Christ wants us to display His life in our lives the way He wants it and not what we have come to believe or wish it were good. Nothing was more powerful in the first century church than love for one another. Paul says things like prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, they will all pass but love will last forever (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). Love is what we are taking to heaven and so we better start demonstrating it to others here on earth.

What do you make of Jesus’ commandment to love one another? Share your thoughts.