Love is not an emotion, because you cannot command someone to feel a certain way. Loving someone is a choice that manifests itself in your attitudes and actions towards that person. Jesus said, ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (vv. 34-35 NKJV). Jesus called this ‘a new commandment’. What’s new about it? These words: ‘as I have loved you’. Since Christ lives in you, you can love others with His love. Jesus always put His disciples first – washing their feet, saving them from storms, patiently teaching them. He didn’t look out for number one; He looked out for the twelve. You say, ‘But how can I love someone I don’t even like?’ Jesus answers, ‘As I have loved you.’ C.S. Lewis tells of how he came to view others’ faults differently: ‘There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me…If I can love myself without approving of all I do, I can also love others without approving of all they do.’ And what Jesus commands you to do, He empowers you to do: ‘The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Romans 5:5 NKJV).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.