31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
John 13:31-38
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John 13:34
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:28-31
People like freedom and do not like to be restrained, but the laws and commandments give us rules in life, knowing what to follow, how to live, and how to love with knowledge! There are more than 300 commandments in the Old Testament law. Jesus gave the scribes in Mark 12 the two greatest commandments – to love God and love others. But before he was crucified, he gave his disciples a new commandment, and he reiterated that it was my commandment! It is not new to be instructed to love one another, we have been asked to love our neighbor as ourselves. But what the Lord’s commandment is that as I love you, you also love one another! You have to love each other as I love you! The Lord Himself set an example. He first loved us and let us experience God’s love before we could love each other!
Truly! If we are not forgiven, we do not know how to forgive others. If we have not tasted love, we can only love very self-centered. If we have not experienced the Lord’s love with thousands of forgiveness, acceptance, and encouragement, we will not know how to have hope and patience with others!
Truly, the Lord first set an example for us. He made us understand and deeply touched by His love so that we know how to use this Agape love to love the people around us. To truly act on this commandment, we must first experience how the Lord loves us! When we understand the love behind it, the commandments are no longer the observance of the restrained law. We experience the Agape love in our hearts, and we love one another from the overflow of Christ’s love! We love those whom the Lord loves!
Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to experience your great love! So that I can love one another as You love me!
Raisins & Apples Bible Devotional & more 