A Reflection On Loving Others

When I want to care like Jesus does

Jesus knows our feeble efforts at love. It is no coincidence that He commands us to love just as He does immediately after His teaching on the branch’s relationship to the vine. Love is a form of bearing fruit, and Jesus is emphatic that we can bear no fruit on our own (John 15:5). It is by our abiding in Him, and by His abiding in us, that fruit happens. It is by the same union that love happens.

If we attempt to love others as Jesus loves us, we will fail. We can try to muster up feelings, but they will fall short. We can try to love independently of our feelings, but it will be a hollow, lifeless love. No, the only remedy is the living Vine bearing fruit through His branches. He is the source. Do you want greater love for others? Bask in His love, and see what happens next.

[Jesus said,] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. . . . This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

John 15:5, 12