God's Mission
John 15:9-17
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
~ Jesus,
John 15:12
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Pondering Point
This is not merely a command to love each other; it is the way in which we are commanded to love each other that captures the essence of Jesus’ words: Love the way that Jesus loved. In light of this, make a list of how Jesus loved people. Do a search on the internet to help. Better yet, grab a physical bible and do the search yourself. How did He love His disciples, the crowds, His friends (like Mary, Martha and Lazarus), His enemies, His family? How did he love the poor, the sick, the outcast, and the foreigners? After making the list, pick a few items to pray over and ask God to help you become more like Jesus – in these specific ways.
Journal Prompt:
How Jesus loved people:
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to love people as you love people, especially my fellow disciples. Specifically I ask that You help me in these ways… (taken from your list above) When you are done, simply close with “Amen.”