Love one another

The greatest command

Matthew 22:34–40 ESV

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Love God, why?

-Because he is most lovely and He is most worthy of your love and

He has shown his unconditional love for you in Christ.

Love others

A person who has been saved from death by Christ alone has been given the Holy Spirit to be able to extend that unconditional love to others.

1 John 4:7–21 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John

True love does not come from anywhere but God.

People do not love each other, self sacrifcially without God. Remember

People might love someone self sacrificially that gives them something or brings something good to the table but this type of love does not exist outside of Jesus.

We are not talking about a fake love but a real love for people. A love that means this… “that person is a jerk to you, they have only ever said mean things.. .and yet you are looking out for them more than yourself. When that person gets hurt, you run to the rescue, when that person has a problem, you help them wanting nothing in return.... WHY? because that was you. WHILE WE WERE STILL ENEMIES, WHILE WE WERE WEAK, CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.

God does not love you because of you. He loves you because of him. And John is saying here that the mark of a TRUE Christian is one who loves this way.

So John makes it clear because he starts with this… If you say you love God but hate your brother.... then you need to actually check and see if you are a follower of Jesus or if you have just been going through the motions. John is saying.. if you can’t even love your brother… how coudl you love your enemy??? You can’t.

and because this kind of love is only found in God then you must not be.

Look… I am not trying to scare you here but we need to be honest about this text. Have you convinced yourself that you are a Christian because you go to church on Sunday's? The Bible is clear that’s not what makes you a Christian… What makes you a Christian is what Christ did for you on the Cross and what he did was love you, die for you and give you his Spirit.

So, John requires us to ask ourselves… Do I love my brother or sister? If not, if I hate them or if I can’t forgive them or if I want what I want over them all the time… Then maybe I need to have a DTR with God. Have I actually believed in Jesus or am I just going through the motions....

The reality.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you won’t do this perfectly. You will sin against your brother or sister.. against the people you love most but It won’t be the movement of your heart it will just be a moment.

When we do this well there is no insecurity. We can actually go out into the world and be a presence of peace for the people around us. We can love people well, in a way that they have never experienced. We can show the Love that God has for them through our words and our actions towards them.