I
Am Giving You A New Commandment:
Love
Each Other.
Just
As I Have Loved You, You Should Love Each Other.
Scripture
John
13
34 So
now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I
have loved you, you should love each other.
Observation
Love
one another, is not simply a suggestion. It is a command. And this
love that Jesus is talking about is not some mushy emotional
touchy-feel y kind of love. The love that Jesus is commanding us to
have for one another is always a choice.
Every
single moment of every single day you and I must make the choice to
love. It is a struggle because we are by nature – selfish! So
...Whether we feel like it or not, or whether the person deserves it
or not, you and I are commanded to love them. If love, agape love,
came easy for us then Jesus would not have had to command us to do
it.
When
a marriage partner says, “I don't love you any more. What they are
really saying is, “I don't choose to love you any more. Proof that
agape love is not easy is the fact that in our country the divorce
rate is: 41
percent of first marriages end in divorce, 60 percent of second
marriages end in divorce, and 73 percent of third marriages end in
divorce.
Love,
agape love, takes a lot of work. It is self – less, it is not
selfish! It is putting other people's needs above my own. It takes a
lot of effort.
Hate
on the other hand, in contrast to love, is something that requires no
work. It is easy. It is so much easier to dislike people or a group
of people rather than to love them.
When
you and I meet a person's deepest needs that is showing agape love.
It is a love that comes from a personal relationship with God through
His Son Jesus Christ. God is love.
The
kind of love that Jesus is talking about is 1 Corinthians 13 kind of
love:
“Love
is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or
rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of being wronged. It
does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins
out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful,
and endures through every circumstance.”
Guys,
love your wives with this kind of love and you won't have any problem
with her showing you respect!
Application
I
will look for ways to meet the deepest needs of those that God brings
across my path.
How
about you?
Prayer
Heavenly
Father, you know exactly how selfish I am. You know everything about
me. Help me to love people with Your love. Help me to see and help me
to meet the needs of the people that you bring into my life.
I
pray for those who are going through difficulties in their marriage.
Draw them close to You. Help them to get through the rough times.
Give them the ability to love even when love is not returned back to
them.
Daily
Bible Reading: Jeremiah 7,8,9; John 13
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