“Love one another”
- May 8
- 5 min read
Do you remember the old-style British passports, which always had a space for ‘distinguishing marks.’ For me, I dutifully wrote, ‘None!’
Yet, the truth is, all Christians are marked "with the Holy Spirit", as Paul states in Ephesians 1:13. And if that sounds a bit strange for a distinguishing mark, here's a very simple and practical one. It’s found in John 13:35. Jesus says, "All people will know you are my disciples if you love one another."
Let me ask you today, how well does this distinguishing mark show up? How well do you KNOW and LIVE this love?
Love is one of the birthmarks of God’s children.
We are all called to demonstrate His love to others. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul doesn’t say in verse 14, Christ’s love compels you to love me, but Christ's love compels us to love you. This is further emphasised in verse 15 - we are to no longer live for ourselves but for HIM. Because He generously pours out His love into our hearts, it must overflow to others.
John 13:34 refers to a “new command I give you.” This command raises the stakes of love. It means more than “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It also means more than turning the other cheek, or forgiving someone who hurt you, or blessing those who curse you.
Jesus asks us to do the impossible: to love others “As I have loved you.” Really?
Jesus reveals a new standard of love for all those that follow Him. He loves us unconditionally, relationally and completely! His love changes us, and as a consequence He commands us to love others until it shatters defences, brings down strongholds, tears apart barriers, and changes our relationships in Him!
It's an amazing thought that there’s a love outside of us that actually makes us who we are. God’s love is the strongest motivating power in the world.
1 John 3:1: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
His divine love places us under an obligation to love. It's a radical life of love that Jesus calls us to, and it requires sacrificial following and living.
Following Christ means this, as John Piper states, “The words 'as I have loved you' contain a pattern for our love for each other, and they contain a power for our love for each other.”
This is further emphasised in John 15:9–10: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
Did you note the ‘pattern’ and the ‘power’ of such love?
The key to following Jesus must be found in how we love each other. We can only do this by abiding in His love.
1 John 4:10–11, 21: "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another... And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
The measure of such love is given here. The commandment is not just to love, but to love as Jesus did. We’ve already mentioned He loves unconditionally, relationally, completely, but also sacrificially and selflessly, even to the point of laying down His life.
Michael Wilkins asks, “Do we love the way that Jesus loved? Probably not as much as we think we do. Because to love with his kind of love will mean our full obedience to God’s will for our lives, the continuing transformation of our personal, corporate, and family life, and our dedicated outreach to the world around us.”
What is so amazing is that we have a Saviour who loves us beyond measure, without conditions, without change. It’s only in loving Him and longing to know Him and follow Him more, that love becomes a life-changing reality in and through us!
The phrase “love one another” shows up at least 13 times in John, Romans, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 1 & 2 John. Jesus commands us to have such a love for each other. It must become the distinguishing mark as His followers. It’s the essential piece of evidence for a watching world. Sadly, the opposite is also true. When the world sees a lack of love in the church, it shatters our witness, worship and walk!
Malcolm Muggeridge once said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis or any other disease like that, rather, it's the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody. The greatest evil is the lack of love."
The distinctive mark or definition of a follower of Christ is “one who loves like Jesus loves.” Note, the command isn’t to feel a certain way about others, but to act in love so that you treat others with grace.
Jesus had just celebrated the last supper with His disciples so He gave them a mandate to love, a model of love, and a manifestation through love. Loving the 'little', the 'least' and the 'lost'. By the way, the command is in the present tense, meaning we’re to “keep on loving.”
As I close, you’re probably thinking, we don’t have this capacity to love! Let me reassure you. Romans 5 says, "For the love of God has been poured out," or "shed abroad," " in our hearts by the Holy Spirit." The language here refers to filling up a bucket or a pot so full that it just keeps on overflowing to the brim and over and over. There’s no limit to His love! What an amazing thought!
Henri Nouwen once said, “The mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and very conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God.”
Stop and think for a moment.
We are created to live in the limitless, overflowing abundance of His divine love! Such intimacy with God is not only possible but is staggering and a challenge in 'Following Christ'!
Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
How do we measure up?
It means to mirror Christ’s actions and have love as the liberating, guiding, active principle of your life on a day to day basis. Here's the point: love is the litmus test for us as Christians and sets us apart as His followers.
Max Lucado once said, “There is a time for risky love. There is a time for extravagant gestures. There is a time to pour out your affections on one you love. And when the time comes, seize it, don't miss it.”
You can love others because the One you follow never fails to love you perfectly this way in both your best and worst moments! Hallelujah!
Year not I, but through Christ in me. Amen