We all know that as Christians we’re supposed to love one another. I want to reexamine that idea though and get down to what Jesus really meant. <\/p>\n\n\n
Previously He ranked \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself\u201d as the second greatest commandment (Matt. 22:39) and in the Good Samaritan parable He explained to us how our neighbor can be anyone and everyone (Luke 10:25-37). It\u2019s a call to take the inward care and concern we have for ourselves and apply it to others. Stop and think about it for a minute and you\u2019ll realize how difficult it is to apply this day in and day out.<\/p>\n\n\n
However, as Christians we\u2019re called to an even higher standard. Jesus didn\u2019t just tell His followers to love one another. He didn\u2019t even say \u201clove each other as yourselves.\u201d No, He took it to a whole new level. \u201cA new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another\u201d (John 13:34, repeated in 15:12). <\/p>\n\n\n
As I have loved you.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve really processed how difficult an assignment He gave us with this commandment. This commandment came right on the heels of Jesus washing their feet and directly before He was to head to the cross. <\/p>\n\n\n Again, he\u2019s not just calling us to love each other as ourselves. Instead, He\u2019s calling us to love each other better than ourselves, to deny ourselves in favor of caring for and serving our fellow Christians. He\u2019s calling us to lay down our lives for each other (15:13). <\/p>\n\n\n Most Christians are familiar with John 13:35. In fact, we often sing about it – \u201cThey\u2019ll know we are Christians by our love.\u201d That verse only makes sense when paired with the commandment in the prior verse. We aren\u2019t going to stand out if we love each other the way the world loves. We\u2019re going to stand out if we love as He loved. <\/p>\n\n\n Peter helps us understand this point in 1 Peter 1:22: \u201cSince you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.\u201d Once our obedient purification leads to a sincere love of the brethren, we\u2019re commanded to excel into a fervent love for each other. In this verse we see the two common words for love in the Greek, phileo and agape. Peter\u2019s saying, \u201cyou have phileo, that brotherly love for each other. Now convert that into agape, a self-sacrificing love.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n If you\u2019ll remember, this very distinction between the two loves carried a deep meaning for Peter. In John 21:15-17 he had that famous exchange with Jesus where Jesus asked if Peter agape loved Him and Peter would only say he phileo loved the Savior. When Peter called his readers to grow from brotherly, phileo love for each other into agape love, he of all people knew exactly what he was saying. We need brotherly love for each other, but we can\u2019t stop there. It has to grow into something more, something weightier. <\/p>\n\n\n