“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18)
“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)
On the day when everyone lavishes on loved ones gifts, flowers and cards that express our feelings far greater than we are able, we address the topic of love. We have already said on previous days entries that God is love and that love is shown in the crucifixion of His own Son. Today we are pointing to the Old Testament as a reference to this topic. The Lord tells the Jews to love their neighbor as they love themselves. I think it is safe to say even in this day and age that most folks at least like who they are as a person. While there are sadly exceptions to that, most people don’t hate themselves. Knowing this, God instructed them to view and treat others as they would treat themselves. Perhaps this is a precursor to Jesus command to treat others as you would wish to be treated in Luke 6:31.
Jesus gives His disciples a new command. Instead of loving our neighbor as ourselves, we should love one another as God has and does love us. Our love is finite, in that it has limits. We have mood swings as we let our emotions dictate how we treat others. Our mood can change instantly as our circumstances change. God is not saddled with such issues. His love for us is unconditional and eternal. This is not a natural thing for us, this loving of others. We choose who we want to love and who we do not wish to impart love to. Not so with God. He is completely impartial (Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34)). He sees us all the same; just as our earthly parents see all their children the same. The difference lies in our inability to not pick favorites from time to time.
So there you have it. On this special day when we are to pour out our affections on loved ones, let us remember the unconditional love God always and for all time has for us and strive to be more like our Heavenly Father with those around us each and every day of the year.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
NOTE: Christian love has Christ’s sacrificial love as its model, and the community of believers as the primary (though by no means exclusive) place in which it is expressed. [The Reformation Study Bible]
