Love as Christ Loved: A New Commandment

“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.”  John 13:33-34

A distinguishing mark of a disciple in Christ is love of one another. The model that we should follow is that of Christ. The model of Christ gives the commandment its freshness. Loving one another was not a new concept, however, loving one another as Christ loved us, was new. Deity taking on the frailties of humanity, living a sinless life and sacrificing Himself so that those who were guilty could live eternally, was new. No one else had or could do what Jesus did. This elevated and enriched a love that GOD has always desired. To love as Christ is sacrificial love without qualifiers. Consider what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3-8, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”