John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
In my introductory post on this topic of “What Is Love?", I gave my three-fold answer: love is an emotion, an action, and a part of who God is. Over the past several posts, I’ve shared some of the ways the Bible describes God’s love: His love is faithful and just; it’s a gift; and His love is redeeming. Most of us are already familiar with love as an emotion or feeling, so now I want to step into studying the way the Bible talks about love as an action. Today’s post will look at some of the commands from Scripture where we are called to love, as well as how we are called to love.
To start, I want us to reflect on the opening verses of John 13:34-35. This is Jesus giving final instructions and encouragement to His disciples on the night before He died. He tells His disciples that He’s giving them a new command, to love one another. While we may not initially think that “love others” is a new command, Jesus goes on to say we are to love others as He has loved us. Jesus is explaining that the love He has demonstrated through His life is different from the love offered by the world. He even says that everyone else will know who His disciples are by the way they love one another. Two chapters later, Jesus continues His lesson by explaining how the disciples should love one another:
John 15:9-13
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Before we can love others, we must love Jesus. Loving Jesus means we obey His commands—and the command He gives here is to “Love each other as I have loved you.” How did Jesus love them? He laid down His life for them. He died so that we could live in a restored relationship with God. We are called by our Savior to love others like Jesus loved us—sacrificially. In another one of Jesus’ famous teachings, He phrases this same command in a more specific way:
Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
So how do we love others as ourselves? How do we love in a way in which we are laying down our lives for others? How do we love sacrificially? Thankfully, we are not left in the dark for these questions—God’s true and perfect Word gives us clear, actionable ways we are called to love. In the New Testament, there are many “One Another Commands” where we are instructed to treat others a certain way out of love for God and for them. For a longer (but still introductory) list of those “One Another Commands,” you can go check out my post called “What Are Friends For?” from back in July 2024. For the rest of this post, I want to highlight two specific passages from the New Testament that both give actionable ways we are to love others.
First, let’s look at 1 Peter, where one of Jesus’ twelve disciples teaches the church on how to love. Peter gives us some very practical ways we can love others:
1 Peter 4:8-10
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
First, “love covers over” sins. This is not teaching us to ignore sins, but rather to be motivated by a heart of forgiveness to extend love and grace towards those who’ve sinned against us. Are you quick to forgive, or do you hold onto wrongs done to you? Having a heart that is ready and willing to forgive is one way we can love others.
Second, “offer hospitality to one other without grumbling.” How easy is it to view hospitality as a chore or inconvenience? It’s so much easier to just take care of ourselves or just our families, rather than trying to figure out how to bring other people into our daily lives. Yet that goes against the way we are called to love and live—we are to be hospitable to others in the same way that God brought us into His family through sending us His Son.
Third, Peter explains how we are to use our gifts “to serve others as stewards of God’s grace.” When we choose to use the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given us to serve others, we get to help distribute God’s grace to those around us. I know I too often develop a complaining attitude towards those I’m serving, rather than an attitude of gratitude at the fact that I get to dispense God’s grace to others. This command is also a privilege for those who obey it!
Next, I want to look at one of the passages where we learn about how to love others from the apostle Paul. Here Paul details what it looks like to “live a life worthy of the calling” we’ve received:
Ephesians 4:1-3
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
First, we learn here that being “humble and gentle” is a way to love others. What does this look like? Well, being humble means caring less about ourselves and our needs and caring more about the needs of others. We can love others by checking in on them, asking them about themselves, and seeking ways to serve them personally. To be gentle with others means to be kind in how we treat others. Are we quick to criticize and get annoyed? Or are we able to gently respond to others when they disappoint or irritate us? Seeking to be humble and gentle towards everyone is a huge way we can demonstrate the love of God to others.
Second, we are to “be patient, bearing with one another in love.” This goes hand-in-hand with having a humble and gentle attitude towards others. Honestly, patience is not something that comes naturally to me, and I can become so task-oriented that my patience runs thin when it seems that others get in the way of my plans. But yet our God is so patient with me! He bears with me, patiently loving me even as I fall back into sin again and again. If we choose to be patient with others, we are reflecting the image of Christ to the world around us.
Third, we are also supposed to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” God calls us to work hard towards keeping peace between our brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead of pushing for our own agenda in the ministries we’re involved in, do we first consider what others are planning or desiring? Are we quick to push our own method of living out a biblical principle onto others if they differ from us? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:9 that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Seeking to live at peace with fellow believers is another heavenly picture of God’s love here on earth.
I wanted this last post in this series to point you to the practical instruction that the Bible provides for how we, who are loved so much by God, are also called to love. I pray you will be challenged to go to Scripture to find more ways we can love others. Love defined by God’s Word is so much more beautiful, precious, and applicable to our everyday lives than love defined by the world. I pray you continue to grow in your love for God and others as you continue to seek after Him and His ways. Thank you for joining me through this series on “What Is Love?”, and I look forward to studying more of the rich truths found in Scripture with you next time on Speaking Truth.
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