Commanded to Love

“These things I command you, that you love one another.”  (John 15:17)

It makes a remarkable difference to see love as a command and not a choice. Love is the currency of heaven, and we can do nothing for God without it. Jesus can command us to love, because He has taken love out of the natural and emotional realm and placed it in the proper framework of the spirit. When our love is true love, it is spiritual, based on the personality of God, who is love. Therefore, He commands us to love others, and He is able to give us the power to do as He commands.

Some people, even Christians, tout "unconditional" love. But that is a fallacy, because God's love must have its conditions, and Jesus Christ is that condition; For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) The love of God can only be appreciated, understood, and expressed in Jesus, and if we don't have Christ, we don't have love that satisfies God's standards. Men and circumstances will test the limits of our love, and it is the Spirit who sheds God's love abroad in our hearts to help us pass those tests. Only then do we have the capacity to obey His command to love one another. There is no other way to love, and there is no greater love than Jesus.

Let's Pray - Father, it is good and right to learn to define love as You do. Teach me to appreciate each person as an opportunity to love as You command. May my words and deeds be salt and light in the earth, and may You be glorified in Your servant. Amen.