“These things I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:17)
Love is the currency of heaven, and we can do nothing for God without it — so, it makes a remarkable difference to see love as a command and not a choice. 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 can 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. The love of God can only be understood and expressed in Jesus, and if we do not have Christ, we do not 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 can we 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.
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