WHY LOVING OTHERS IS SO IMPORTANT!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

MONDAY AUGUST 29, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHY LOVING OTHERS IS SO IMPORTANT!

Memory verse: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13 vs 34.)

READ: First John 3 vs 14 - 15: 

3:14: We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

3:15: Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

INTIMATION:

To love others was not a new commandment. The Sinai law taught that one was to love His neighbor as himself (Leviticus 19 vs 18). God gave the commandment, “…You shall love your neighbor as yourself…” One’s love of his neighbor, therefore, was based on his love of himself. But to love others as much as Christ loved others was revolutionary. Now we are to love others based on Jesus’ sacrificial love for us. Such love is very important because it will not only bring unbelievers to Christ, it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. 

However, Jesus emphasizes an intensity of love that is different. It is a love that has no conditions. It is self-sacrificing love that extends beyond any conditions of one’s environment, and thus, simply acts out a selfless attitude of appreciation for all that God has done in one’s life in reference to salvation. Therefore, such love is a show of appreciation of what God did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus meant that love in action would be the identifying characteristic of His disciples that would separate them from the rest of the world. Therefore, loving others as Christ loved us should be an identity for the believers. Jesus was a living example of God’s love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus’ love. Such Christlike love will show we are His disciples (John 13 vs 35).

The apostle John affirms that a Christian can know that he is saved. The evidence of the salvation is his behavioral relationship he maintains with his brother and the commandments of God (John 14 vs 34 - 35). As the world identifies the Christian to be of God by his life-style. The apostle affirms that the same life-style is evidence of one’s sonship. The evidence that one has passed out of the unregenerate life of sin and into the eternal life in Christ is the loving relationship one maintains with his brother in Christ.

The love for others as Christ loves us occasions reaching beyond friends to enemies and persecutors (Matthew 5 vs 43 - 48). Love should be the unifying force and the identifying mark of Christian community. Love is the key to walking in the light, because we cannot grow spiritually while we hate others. Our growing relationship with God will result in growing relationships with others. 

Real love is in action, not in feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving. The greatest act of love is giving oneself for others. How can we “lay down our lives”? By serving others with no thought of receiving anything in return. Sometimes it is easier to say we will die for others than truly live for them—this involves putting others’ desires first. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, giving. Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more. 

As children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ. His great love for us led Him to sacrifice Himself so that we might live. Our love for others should be of the same kind—a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service. Jesus was a living example of God’s love, as we are to be living examples of Jesus’ love. 

The apostle John echoes Jesus’ teaching that whoever hates his brother is a murderer at heart (Matthew 5 vs 21 - 22). Christianity is a religion of the heart, outward compliance alone is not enough. Bitterness against someone who has wronged you is an evil cancer within you and will eventually destroy you. Don’t let a “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12 vs 15) grow in you or your church. 

Prayer: Abba Father, My desire is to a living example to others of Your unparalleled love for humanity. Endue me with the same Spirit of love, and give me the grace to practice love for others as much as You loves me, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!