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John 15:13-14
Sometimes we see things in scripture that are just challenging...things we almost wish we couldn’t see. Today is one of those days for me. Today we are introduced, to my recollection, the only real ‘standard’ that God gives us in the New Testament. People often misconstrue a lot of the talk about the fruit of the spirit in various sections of NT writings are commands to be good...but that isn’t what is being taught. What is being taught with all of these behavioral characteristics in the NT is that these are the things that come from the Holy Spirit when it is living inside of us...these are the result, not the command.
Today we ARE given some kind of a metric...it is the only real command in the NT. There are other parts of the NT where this command is given in two parts, but today we are introduced to just half of it. Here it is:
John 15:13-14 says: 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
The full ‘command’ with which we are all aware can be found in both Luke and Mark, and here it is from Mark 12:
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
So here is my thought for today, based on these passages. Looking at Mark’s words for a moment, what if the way to do the former is really the latter? What if this is really just ONE command that John is actually encapsulating as one command, but that Mark and Luke have broken out into two parts per Jesus’ audience at the time? John was very keyed in on Love as a theme in his writings. He teaches us that God IS love. And what IS love then? Well, love is laying down our life for the sake of another’s. Loving God, for whom we can do anything in this life, is really just directing our action towards the people God loves. God wants us not to do anything for Him, but to do for Him what He did for us...to lay down His life. We are commanded to take all of the appreciation that we have, for all that God has done in our lives, and for all of the Grace He has given us, and we are commanded to give that to others in the form or love...but laying down our lives. That’s the only method of given back to God that God really wants. That’s an amazing idea.
So, loving others IS loving God. Loving others IS thanking God. Loving others is our primary purpose.
That’s a huge idea. That’s a weighty idea. Practically speaking, that looks like this though...what can I do today to love those people closest to me? My wife, my kids, those at my work, whoever is around me...what can I do to love them today; and in a way that is like Jesus loved me?
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By Steve AndersonSometimes we see things in scripture that are just challenging...things we almost wish we couldn’t see. Today is one of those days for me. Today we are introduced, to my recollection, the only real ‘standard’ that God gives us in the New Testament. People often misconstrue a lot of the talk about the fruit of the spirit in various sections of NT writings are commands to be good...but that isn’t what is being taught. What is being taught with all of these behavioral characteristics in the NT is that these are the things that come from the Holy Spirit when it is living inside of us...these are the result, not the command.
Today we ARE given some kind of a metric...it is the only real command in the NT. There are other parts of the NT where this command is given in two parts, but today we are introduced to just half of it. Here it is:
John 15:13-14 says: 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
The full ‘command’ with which we are all aware can be found in both Luke and Mark, and here it is from Mark 12:
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
So here is my thought for today, based on these passages. Looking at Mark’s words for a moment, what if the way to do the former is really the latter? What if this is really just ONE command that John is actually encapsulating as one command, but that Mark and Luke have broken out into two parts per Jesus’ audience at the time? John was very keyed in on Love as a theme in his writings. He teaches us that God IS love. And what IS love then? Well, love is laying down our life for the sake of another’s. Loving God, for whom we can do anything in this life, is really just directing our action towards the people God loves. God wants us not to do anything for Him, but to do for Him what He did for us...to lay down His life. We are commanded to take all of the appreciation that we have, for all that God has done in our lives, and for all of the Grace He has given us, and we are commanded to give that to others in the form or love...but laying down our lives. That’s the only method of given back to God that God really wants. That’s an amazing idea.
So, loving others IS loving God. Loving others IS thanking God. Loving others is our primary purpose.
That’s a huge idea. That’s a weighty idea. Practically speaking, that looks like this though...what can I do today to love those people closest to me? My wife, my kids, those at my work, whoever is around me...what can I do to love them today; and in a way that is like Jesus loved me?