John 13:34 – Verse of the Day 9/14/13

The commandment to love actually had strong roots in the Old Testament Law.  Leviticus 19:18 commands the believer to “love your neighbor as yourself.”  However, John’s rendition of this command includes two important modifications.  First, we are to love one another; second, we are to love as Jesus has loved us.  These modifications do not change the substance of the command, but they do relate to our motivation and context for following it.  Now that Jesus has come we are to follow the pattern of his sacrificial love and we are to manifest that love in a special way amongst his body, the church.

Jesus has lavished his love on us by living and dying for us in order to save us from our sin and restore our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Pray that this love we have received from Jesus would enable us to love one another, and pray especially for a heart to love and serve your fellow members of Christ’s body.