John 13:34-35—“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” A new command? Was it not already a Jewish cultural mandate to love God first and your neighbor second? (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27). What was new about Jesus’ words, “Love one another?”
Remember that Jesus was giving his last instructions before leaving earth. He knew for a fact that the enemy’s first attack on this band of believers would cause them to turn on one another and to scatter them and break their bond of love for one another. Imagine if you were a wife to one of the disciples, and a Roman soldier came to your door the week after the crucifixion. Say the soldier asked you if your husband Thomas had been with Jesus. Wouldn’t you be tempted to say, “No, he wasn’t with Jesus, but I’m pretty sure Simon Peter was.” Jesus strongly warned his disciples to cement their bond of love for one another because he knew they were going to need the support. United we stand. Divided we fall.
The enemy’s first line of attack on the church in our day is division. As I look back over my 30 year history as a member of six different Baptist churches, I can recall divisive attitudes in almost every one of them. Lord Jesus, if it is me, please remove my lamp stand!
Take a look at the following verses from Leviticus 19. Ask God to bring you to your knees in prayer and confession as you recognize any of these divisive actions in your own life and in the life of your church family. May God heal our broken bonds of unity.
11" 'Do not steal.
" 'Do not lie.
" 'Do not deceive one another.12 " 'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13 " 'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.
" 'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.14 " 'Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
15 " 'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
16 " 'Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
" 'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.17 " 'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.
18 " 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
It sounds like such a simple command and yet it is so difficult to do. It's easy to love those you are nice to you, show they care for you, etc. But what about those who say hurtful things to you? Yes, even church people say very hurtful things. It is said that Christians are most generally the ones who hurt you the most. Why is that? Maybe it's because we hold Christians to a much higher standard?? I know I'm guilty of doing this! But when we look at things, Christians are also sinners, just like those unsaved. Yes, Christians are suppose to know better because we know what the Bible says. BUT, we are still sinners all the same. We are also going to say things to others that will cause hurt, sometimes we mean to and other times we didn't even know the other person took it that way. We just have to keep striving to treat others the way we would like to be treated and lovingly.
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