A Reflection On Loving Others

When I need to follow Christ’s example

Jesus told His disciples that He was giving them a new commandment: to love one another. Have you ever asked yourself what is new about this commandment? What element of it was not already given in the Old Testament? The commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves was prominent in Jewish theology before Jesus came. It’s scriptural from all the way back in Leviticus (19:18). So what’s new?

Jesus clarifies after His initial statement: We are to love one another as He has loved us. That’s what is different. That’s more than loving our neighbors as ourselves. That’s making deep, painful sacrifices for them. It is a matter of seeking their good above our own. No prior commandment has made such specific claims on us, defining for us what real love is. No definition will suffice in teaching us what kind of love this is; only an illustration will do. And the illustration is Jesus. The way He loved us is the way we are to love others.

I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.

John 13:34