LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU

Proclamation:

“A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, and recorded by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter, John records the events surrounding the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples before His crucifixion, including Jesus washing their feet, (John 13:4-12) His explanation for doing it, (John 13:12-20) His identification of His betrayer, (John 13:21-27) and His giving them a new commandment telling them to love one another as He loved them. (John 13:34-35)

Application:

As Christians we believe in the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ.  We also know that we are to share the gospel with others.  However, in order for us to effectively spread The Word of God, we must live it.  People will know that we belong to Christ if we demonstrate our love for one another.  To them our actions speak much louder than our words.  If we do not act Christ-like, we may, in fact, turn people away from being a Christian.  Not only are we to love those who love us, we are to love all believers.  We should be very careful regarding how we treat our Christian brothers and sisters.  Our bad behavior towards one another weakens the church and ruins our effectiveness in promoting the gospel and saving the lost.  The unsaved people of the world will judge us, and all Christians, by what they see in us and by how we treat each other.