“Love Like Jesus” will be directed at Christians, urging them to obey the Lord Jesus’ command in John 13:34-35, to love each other as He does. Scripture tells us that, to God, all of man’s righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The Lord Jesus, therefore, commands complete transformation in all who claim to follow Him. Hence, believers must be transformed in how they love fellow believers (for they had no former experience). Therefore, anyone (Christian) who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, is commanded by Him to love all fellow Christians as Jesus himself loves them. What did Jesus say would be the effect of obedience to His command?
He says, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love one to another” (John 13:35). This is not a figure of speech, but a direct command; it is non-negotiable.
If anyone lacks understanding of what loving like Jesus means, one only needs to read 1 Corinthians chapter 13. This kind of love does not originate in humans, but in God. This love is not obtained by knowing about God, but by knowing God experientially, through Jesus Christ the Son of God. This is why Jesus is commanding it, not to everyone but to His disciples, those who have faith in and believe in Him as God incarnate, the Savior to the world. It is for this very reason that Jesus said to His disciples in John chapter 15, that “without Me, you can do nothing.” Obviously, He didn’t mean that they could not buy from the market, or take a ride across town, or tie their own shoes. No, the Lord was speaking of things that pertain to the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of God. It is not a worldly kingdom, but a heavenly. And human beings cannot perform anything that God does except they obtain it from Him, through the Son of God. That’s how God does it.
So, the kind of love identified in Corinthians chapter 13 is the kind that comes from God, commonly called “Agape” – unconditional "God" love. It is unlike all other forms of love, and it takes God’s help for one to love like this, to Love Like Jesus. That is why the Lord Jesus make it a commandment to all who claim to be a Christian; for the one who loves us commands us to love like Him. If He thought that we could not accomplish this, He never would have commanded it. The Lord repeats the command to love twice more in John 15:12 and 15:17. In all, this commandment was given three times on the same night that Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room, the night before his crucifixion.
Jesus understood that the world would hate those who belong to Him. He said, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you . . . But all these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent Me. He that hates Me hates My Father also” (John 15:18, 20, 21, 23). Therefore, the world begins with hatred for God, who sent His Son Jesus into the world, who sends His disciples (Christians) into the world to preach His gospel. Since this is a truth that Jesus is teaching His disciples, He then commands that they love each other, as Jesus does; for no one else will. “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love one to another” (John 13:35). For more on how to Love Like Jesus, see our booklet.
