When God wrote His law and gave it to the Israelites, He wanted them to be different from all of the other nations of the time.
1. “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18 NLT
The commandment was to love your neighbor as you do yourself. God was telling them how to love.
The example was themselves.
They are never told to learn how to love themselves first, then love others. The focus was always on the other person.
Paul told the Galatian Christians this same thing,
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:14 NLT
But when Jesus came, He gave His disciple an example to follow for loving others.
“Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:33-35 NLT
Jesus wanted His disciples to love the way He loved them.
Jesus gave this command in the Upper Room, right before He was to die. Die for the sins of the world.
This type of love was the mark of a disciple of Christ. This is one of the distinctions.
What does this love look like?
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,” Matthew 5:43- 44 NKJV
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;”
Romans 12: 9-10 NKJV
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJV
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Hebrews 13:1-2 NKJV
Love is a distinguishing characteristic of a believer, and it is one Jesus wanted us to be identified as His disciples.
“Lord, help me to love others the way you taught us in Your Word. In Jesus’ Name Amen.”
