My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:12-13 NIV
Love each other. This is Jesus’ command for us as believers. He does not tell us we need to obey the Ten Commandments or any other portion of the Law. He does not have a different set of rules we need to follow as believers. Just the single command to love each other.
But that love we are to have for each other is more than just an emotional feeling for people we care about. Jesus tells us to love each other the same way he loved us. By laying down our lives for each other. Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die in our place on a Roman cross. And in doing so, he set us an example of what love is. And his command is that we follow that example.
It is likely that I will not be called upon to give my life as a sacrifice for another believer. But I follow Jesus’ example of love when I die to myself and put the interests of others ahead of my own. When I see a brother or sister in need and help to meet that need, even at great cost or inconvenience to myself. When I take the time to sit with one who is suffering and offer them comfort. Or when I invest my time and effort in helping them in their growth as a believer. There is any number of ways that I can lay down my life for another, obeying Jesus’ command to love. Just imagine what the church would be like today if we all lived in obedience to Jesus’ command to love each other.
