Love One Another
By Johnny Angel
John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have
loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this all men will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing
debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled
the law.
1 Peter 1:[22] Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the
truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another
deeply, from the heart. [23] For you have been born again, not of
perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring
word of God.
1 John 3:[11] This is the message you heard from the beginning: We
should love one another. [12] Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the
evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?
Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.
[13] Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. [14] We
know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our
brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. [15] Anyone
who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer
has eternal life in him.
1 John 3:[16] This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down
his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. [17]
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but
has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? [18] Dear
children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in
truth. [19] This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and
how we set our hearts at rest in his presence [20] whenever our hearts
condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows
everything.
1 John 3:[21] Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
confidence before God [22] and receive from him anything we ask,
because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. [23] And
this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and to love one another as he commanded us. [24] Those who obey
his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know
that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
2 John [5] And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command
but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one
another. [6] And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his
commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that
you walk in love.
(All of the above scripture is from the NIV.)
I read a devotion this morning that said Christians should read 1
Corinthians 13, the love chapter of the Bible, every day for three
weeks. It suggested that the more they read it, the more they would
practice it.
Bible scholars say that when the disciple John was near the temple in
his old age that the Christians would help him stand up before everyone
so he could preach. His message was simply to "love one another".
Think about it, here was the disciple that Jesus loved. He was the only
disciple who went the the crucifixion. Jesus even told John to take
care of His mother for Him. He was as close as anyone could get to
Jesus physically when Jesus was on Earth. And His message after all
those years was to "love one another".
Our world is hurting. All around us there are people looking for the
fulfilliment that can only be found in God's love. The Scripture I
included above makes it clear that our love shows that we are
Christians. But a lot of us get bogged down by the junk in life and
forget to show our love many times when we should. People need
love. Let's show them the love that Jesus has shown us.
John 3 makes it clear that Jesus came to save the world through His
love. He did not come to judge and condemn. We can show God's
love all around us and make the impact that is needed.
Love one another.
N Prayer,
Johnny <*}}}><