Thursday, November 30, 2006

Daily Devotions - 11.29.06, John 15:12 NKJV

“This is My [Jesus’] commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” – John 15:12

Have you ever stopped to think of what our society considers love to be? We use the word to describe our likes of objects, places, days of the week, activities, feelings, and movies.

We use the word “love” at times when the word “like” should be used and I know for the most part people know this and mean that they like something very much. I’m sure we say “love” to describe our extreme liking because to really love something or someone is to be willing to give everything up for it.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” – John 15:13

Can we love like this? I guess we need to be careful who we consider to be our friends… Just kidding! Let’s go back to John 15:12… Jesus said that we are to love one another as He loved us… and how is it that He loved us? “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Jesus stretched out His arms and embraced us with His grace… not the justice we deserve… but with His perfect love. I pray that today you lay down your life (self interests, feelings, emotions) and embrace someone that needs to experience God’s graceful love; be ready to love just as Jesus loves us.

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