SUNDAY CHOICE – LOVE ONE ANOTHER – by Charles Schokman
“See How They Love One Another”
Intention
To love one another, just as Jesus loves us, so we attract others to God.
Scripture
“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34–35
Reflection
Jesus’ last command, the night before He died, was for us to love one another even as He has loved us. He called it a new commandment, even though the Old Testament commands that we love our neighbour.
The reason this is new is because He commanded us to love as He loved. Jesus loved with a total giving of Himself even unto death. He laid down His life for His friends – even before they loved Him.
He loved us in the depths of our sin. This love is what must define us as Christians. Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
It this self-giving love that we have as Christians that makes sharing the gospel so fruitful. Some Christians think that their first duty is to ‘save’ others, and every ‘convert’ is seen as another notch on their belt. These supposed conversions usually don’t last because the person is treated as a mere statistic, and never truly loved for who they are.
Sharing the gospel can often take time and requires a relationship of love. From the time of the first Christians till today, it is the love of the Christian community that others find so attractive.
It wasn’t winning arguments or debates, emotionally charged rallies, altar calls or spectacular miracles that achieved lasting heart conversions. It was steadfast love, which could mean caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners or defending the defenceless.
Tertullian, in about AD 197, recorded that onlookers saw Christians performing these acts of love and remarked, “See how they love one another.”
This selfless love is not humanly possible while Jesus remains on the outside of us.
Instead, this love is poured into us as a free gift of the Holy Spirit. St Paul tells us, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). This happens when we are baptised into Christ (Romans 6:3) and we become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Our Christian life is not an external imitation of Christ, but is actually a participation in Christ’s life. As it says in 2 Peter 1:4, we are “partakers of the divine nature” – it’s an internal reality.
We have something more than a personal relationship with Jesus. We have a mutual indwelling, where there’s an intimate union of heart and mind, and the two of us become one.
When we are one with Christ, then we can be empowered to keep His commandment to “love one another, even as I have loved you.”
There is nothing more attractive than that.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, come afresh into our hearts and fill us with Your grace. Allow Your presence to empower us so we can say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Allow the indwelling Christ to empower us to love those who persecute us, to overcome temptations and to invite others into Your loving embrace. Let our lives be so filled with grace that we attract others to You.
May we love one another just as You love us, by allowing Christ to live His life in us. Amen.
Courtesy of Kevin Bailey (Canberra Declaration).
Pray these hymns help us draw closer to the love of God.
You are welcome to pass this on.
