John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. (CSB)

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Flip back to John 13 and read up to this verse and you will hear how Jesus talks about loving his disciples and you will see in his actions how he loves his disciples. He now gives them a command, a directive, an order in 13:34 and 35:

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus makes it clear. The way we demonstrate that we love him is by loving others. 

The Apostle Paul took this to heart. In his magisterial letter we call Romans, he amplifies for us what it looks like to relate to others in love. We see this instruction most clearly in chapters 13-15. We see evidence of this reality in chapter 16. Paul also joyfully inscribes these truths in 1 Corinthians 13. We could go on. 

You get the idea that the defining commandment for us from Jesus is that we love one another. Pick up the Apostle John’s next volume (1 John) and notice how much of what he says in those pages echo what Jesus says here. 

This follows what God tells us from the beginning and what Jesus identified as the Greatest Commandment. We can find Jesus’ words in response to a question: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” (Matthew 22:36). There were over six hundred for him to choose from and he chose these two:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
(Verses 37-40)

The supreme command of our Father in heaven and our risen Savior is love. 

Love God supremely. 

Love others genuinely.

Love reorients our thinking.

Love redirects our behavior. 

Love seeks the highest good for all people everywhere. 

God rules in love. We are to live in masterful expression of his love. 

We love God by loving others. 

Today’s motivational message is a question: How can I most appropriately and genuinely love everyone I encounter today? How can I turn this command into the keystone habit which makes possible new realities?

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I will live and love like Jesus.

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Our Father, make me the most loving man I can possibly be. I want to live and lead with love. I want to speak and serve in love. I want to think and decide in love. Amplify your love through my life. Amen.