Love One Another

John 13:34–35

INTRODUCTION

If you’ve ever tried to put together a piece of furniture from the store without reading the directions, you know how quickly frustration sets in. The screws do not fit, the panels don’t line up, and before long, you are swearing the manufacturer left out a part because you have no doubt you are a home improvement expert. The idea and concept of community can feel the same way. We all want community, we all know it matters, but too often we find ourselves putting the pieces together without looking at the instructions. We try to build it around shared interests, personalities that click, or the convenience of schedules. But without God’s design in front of us, the whole thing feels wobbly.

The truth is, God has already given us the blueprint for how His people should live together. Scattered throughout the New Testament are short yet powerful commands known as the “one another” statements. Over fifty times the Bible calls believers to do something for one another: love one another, forgive one another, serve one another, bear with one another, encourage one another. These are not just inspirational sayings or nice tips for getting along. They are the essential building blocks of Christian community.

Think of it this way: when Jesus established His church, He was not starting a social club, a nonprofit organization, or even a weekly worship event. The “one another” commands are what keep us from turning church into a consumer product and instead make it a living testimony to the power of the gospel.

Over the next four weeks, we are going to walk through four of the most foundational “one another” commands in Scripture. Each one is simple to say, but costly and powerful to live out. Together, they form the framework for what genuine community in Christ looks like.

First, we will examine Jesus’ words in John 13, where He gives His disciples a new command: "Love one another." This is the starting point of everything else. Without love, forgiveness becomes shallow, service becomes resentful, and encouragement becomes hollow. But when love drives the community, everything else begins to flourish.

Second, we will turn to Ephesians 4, where Paul reminds us to put away bitterness, anger, and malice, and instead to forgive one another as God, in Christ, forgave you. Forgiveness is not optional in the Christian community. Without it, relationships rot. With it, relationships reflect the grace of Jesus.

Third, in Galatians 5, Paul warns against selfishness and calls us instead to serve one another through love. In a world obsessed with personal rights and individual expression, the gospel teaches us that true freedom is found in giving ourselves away for the sake of others.

Finally, we will end in Hebrews 10, where the writer urges believers to encourage one another. Life is hard. Faith is costly. Without encouragement, people drift. With encouragement, people endure. Encouragement is not just compliments or kind words; it is stirring one another up to love and good works, pointing each other toward Christ until the day He returns.

That’s the journey we are about to take together. My prayer is that by the end of this series, we will not only understand these “one another” commands but also live them out in ways that strengthen, heal, and make our church family more Christ-like. Imagine what it would look like for this community to be known in our city as a place of radical love, quick forgiveness, joyful service, and life-giving encouragement. That is the kind of church Jesus envisioned.

Let’s begin where Jesus began. Picture the scene in John 13. Jesus has just washed His disciples’ feet, a shocking act of humility that turned the social order upside down. Judas has slipped out into the night to betray Him. The cross looms only hours away. In that moment, Jesus looks at His disciples and talks about how our love can be the identifying mark that the world takes notice of.

I want you to take notice that He doesn’t say people will know we are His disciples by our church attendance, our theological precision, or even our moral behavior. He says the mark is love. To determine whether a community belongs to Jesus, the test is straightforward: do they love one another as He loved them?

This is more than friendship or good vibes. It is not about liking people who are easy to like or tolerating those who are difficult. This is a love that mirrors the love of Jesus, which is a love that stoops low, washes feet, sacrifices, and keeps going even when betrayed. Jesus did not simply tell His disciples to love; He showed them what love looks like. Then He told them to pass it on.

As we begin, a profound question arises: “Does your life demonstrate the kind of sacrificial, self-giving love that Jesus demonstrated for you?” Because, according to Jesus, that is what makes a community unmistakably His.

John 13:34–35 ESV

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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

VERSE 34

When Jesus uttered these words, He was gathered with His disciples in the upper room, just after Judas departed to betray Him. The weight of this moment cannot be overstated. Jesus knew the cross was hours away. He chose not to give His disciples a lesson on strategy, organization, or even worship. He gave them a command centered on love.

The phrase “a new commandment” would have startled His Jewish disciples. The Torah already commands love, as stated in Leviticus 19: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But Jesus intensified this command by anchoring it not in the self but in Himself. He did not say, “Love as you love yourself,” but rather, “love as I have loved you.” This made it “new” in quality, scope, and standard. The measuring stick of love was no longer self-love but Christ’s sacrificial love.

Earlier in John 13, Jesus had just washed the disciples’ feet, a task typically performed by a servant. This embodied what His love looked like. Soon, He would lay down His life, the ultimate demonstration. Culturally, in the Greco-Roman world, love was often tied to mutual benefit, family duty, or romantic desire. But Jesus redefined love as humble service and self-sacrifice, even for the unworthy and undeserving.

Theologically, this verse grounds Christian ethics not in abstract principles but in the person of Christ, who entered our mess and gave Himself fully. Christian love is not measured by feelings or convenience but by Christ Himself. His love is self-giving, sacrificial, and servant-hearted.

VERSE 35

Now Jesus moves from command to consequence. The love of believers for one another becomes the visible evidence of discipleship. Notice the scope: “all people will know.” The watching world does not identify Christians by symbols, clothing, rituals, or even doctrinal creeds but by the lived reality of love within the community.

This was countercultural in a society marked by sharp divisions of Roman, Jew, and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, rich and poor. Roman society was hierarchical, stratified, and transactional in nature. To see a community where people crossed social boundaries and treated one another with genuine love was nothing short of revolutionary.

Theologically, Jesus makes love not optional but essential. Jesus says the strongest example of the gospel is a community of believers who love like He loved. This verse redefines discipleship. Being a disciple is not simply learning information about Jesus but being transformed to live like Him. The most public mark of that transformation is love. Without love, discipleship is incomplete.

The world recognizes authentic disciples of Jesus not by their knowledge or rituals but by their love for one another, which puts the gospel on full display.

TODAY’S KEY TRUTH

When sacrificial love builds the church, the gospel shines in a dark world.

Application

Jesus and His disciples are gathered in the upper room. The atmosphere is thick with emotion. Judas has just left to betray Jesus. Questions are in every disciple's mind. Peter will soon deny Him. The rest of the disciples will scatter in fear. Yet in this moment of looming betrayal, denial, and abandonment, Jesus does not scold or shame them. Instead, He kneels to wash their feet and then gives them a new commandment: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you.”

That is stunning. Jesus knew their flaws. He knew their failures. Yet His final words to them were not about strategy, church growth, or doctrinal statements. They were about love. He says this love will be the unmistakable evidence to the world that they are truly His disciples. Not their knowledge. Not their rituals. Not their power. Their love.

Theologically, this command is considered “new” because it is not based on loving others as we love ourselves, as the Law instructed, but rather on loving as Jesus loved. His love was sacrificial, servant-hearted, and unconditional. It stooped to wash dirty feet, and it went to the cross to redeem sinners. The community Jesus envisioned would be marked by this same sacrificial love. A love that doesn’t keep score, doesn’t walk away when it’s hard, and doesn’t discriminate between the deserving and undeserving. A church without love may look polished, organized, and even doctrinally precise, but it will not shine. Only when love is the foundation does the gospel become visible to the world.

So how do we live this out? Let’s take this truth from theology into practice.

The most immediate application of Jesus’ words is inside the family of faith. Loving “one another” begins with the people sitting beside us on Sunday mornings. Yet churches have split over music styles, budgets, and personal preferences. What shines brighter to the world is not our uniformity but our unity. When we choose to love fellow believers, even when we differ in personality, background, or preferences, we show that Christ is greater than our differences.

This means checking our pride at the door. It means choosing patience with a brother or sister who may irritate us. It means carrying each other’s burdens, praying for one another, and making space for grace when mistakes are made. If the church cannot love and act lovingly to its own, why should the world take seriously our claim that God is love?

Jesus’ command expands outward. Loving our neighbor means showing tangible care for the people we live next to, work with, or pass by in our daily rhythms. In the ancient world, communities were often divided along class, ethnic, or tribal lines. Jesus’ love tore down those walls. Today, sacrificial love might look like checking in on an elderly neighbor, sharing a meal with someone lonely, or practicing hospitality to a family new in town.

Neighbor-love is inconvenient. It often interrupts our schedules. But those small acts of kindness, done in Jesus’ name, build bridges for the gospel to shine.

Now let’s be honest: some people are simply hard to love. Personalities clash. Opinions grate. History lingers. Yet Jesus loved difficult people. He loved disciples who misunderstood Him, religious leaders who challenged Him, and crowds that demanded miracles without faith. If we only love people who are easy to love, our witness loses its power.

Sacrificial love chooses to see people as image-bearers of God, not as annoyances to avoid. It doesn’t mean every relationship is close or easy, but it does mean we treat even the difficult ones with dignity, kindness, and prayerful patience. Loving difficult people is one of the clearest ways the gospel sets us apart from the world.

This love also includes forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come naturally. Our instinct is to protect ourselves, to repay wrong with wrong, or to keep people at a safe distance. But Jesus’ sacrificial love went to the cross for those who nailed Him there. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4 to forgive one another, just as God, in Christ, forgave us.

Forgiving those who have wronged us doesn’t excuse their actions, but it does release us from the prison of bitterness that consumes our thoughts and minds. It opens the door to healing because forgiveness is necessary for healing. Forgiveness testifies to the world that the gospel truly transforms hearts. Imagine what the world sees when Christians forgive the unforgivable. That’s when the world sees Jesus.

I once read about Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who survived a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Years later, while speaking at a church in Germany, she was approached by a former prison guard, the very man who had mocked and tormented her sister. He came forward after her message, held out his hand, and asked for her forgiveness. Corrie said everything in her wanted to recoil. The pain and memories rushed back. But in that moment, she prayed silently, “Jesus, help me.” She lifted her hand, took his, and said, “I forgive you, brother, with all my heart.” Later, she testified that she felt the love of God flood her soul like never before.

That is what sacrificial love looks like. It does not come from our own strength, but from Christ in us. When the world sees that kind of love, it cannot deny the power of the gospel.

In our polarized culture, disagreement often leads to division. However, Jesus never said, “Love one another as long as you agree.” He said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” That means we can disagree on politics, methods, decisions, and even secondary theology without demonizing or dismissing one another.

This kind of love is desperately needed today. The world, and especially our country, has fractured into camps and tribes, and it expects Christians to do the same. But when believers love across disagreements and man-made barriers, the gospel shines brightly. It tells the world that our unity is not built on opinions, politics, or feelings. Our unity is built by and on Christ.

When we put into practice loving fellow believers, neighbors, difficult people, those who have wronged us, and even those with whom we disagree, the church becomes what Jesus envisioned. It becomes a family whose foundation is Christ’s sacrificial love. When that happens, the world takes notice. Our love becomes the evidence that Jesus is alive and the gospel is true.

When sacrificial love builds the church, the gospel shines in a dark world.

CONCLUSION

Let me bring this home to you. Jesus’ command in John 13 is not an abstract idea. It is not a verse to memorize and move on. It is a call to live differently, to love differently, to be marked by something the world cannot explain.

So let me ask you directly: Who in your life needs to experience this kind of love from you? Who is God placing on your heart right now as you hear these words? Maybe it’s someone in this very church family, someone you’ve avoided, someone you’ve disagreed with, or someone you’ve silently judged. Maybe it’s a neighbor who lives right across the street, whose name you’ve never taken the time to learn. Maybe it’s a coworker who drains you with constant negativity. Maybe it’s someone who has hurt you, and the wound still stings every time you think about or see them.

Jesus says, Love one another as I have loved you. That’s not optional. That’s not “if you feel like it.” This is the mark of a disciple of Jesus. That’s the evidence that you belong to Christ.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to manufacture this love on your own. You can’t. None of us can. If left to ourselves, our love, like our patience, runs out fast. It gets tired, it gets frustrated, it keeps score. But Christ’s love never runs dry. The same love that knelt to wash feet and stretched wide on the cross now lives in you through His Spirit. When you draw from His love, you find strength to love in ways you never thought possible.

When sacrificial love builds the church, the gospel shines in a dark world.

Imagine what could happen if every person in this room took this command seriously. Imagine if we were known not for our opinions, not for our politics, not for our preferences, but for our love. A love that forgives when the world says hold a grudge. A love that serves when the world says protect yourself and guard your peace. A love that encourages when the world says tear down. A love that goes first, even when it isn’t convenient.

May our community be known not for what we oppose, not for our programs or preferences, but for our love. Because when we love one another as Christ loved us, the world will see Jesus through us. That kind of love is contagious. That kind of love gets the world’s attention. That kind of love shines light into dark places.

When sacrificial love builds the church, the gospel shines in a dark world.

So here’s the challenge for you: before this week is over, take one deliberate step of sacrificial love. For some of you, that means making a phone call to someone you’ve avoided. For others, it means offering forgiveness where bitterness has taken root. Maybe it’s inviting a neighbor over for a meal, even if you barely know them. Maybe it’s choosing patience with that coworker who grates on you every day. For some of you, it might mean sitting down with someone you disagree with and listening, not to win an argument but to show love.

Don’t let this remain a sermon you heard; let it become a truth you live. Ask God right now, “Who is my one?” Who is the one person I can love sacrificially this week? Write their name down. Pray for them and then act.

Here’s some additional encouragement: you don’t walk this road alone. Christ is with you. His love is in you. His Spirit empowers you. You are not too weak, not too wounded, not too wrapped up to love by His strength.

Let’s be that kind of community, that kind of church. Let’s love one another as He has loved us. Because when we do, the world will see more than us. That's when the world will see Jesus. Because...

When sacrificial love builds the church, the gospel shines in a dark world.