If You Love

Like I have stated before, but will repeat I am not an expert on anything. I read, journal, live, and think about it all. With that said here goes SOME of my thoughts lately. This “love” thing keeps coming up in my crazy mind and here is just another piece.

I have felt greatly the divisions in our world, country, and church all of which make me sad, but also hopeful for change. I guess I believe that only the greatest change or good can come from the greatest pits of despair. I feel like we are in some pretty great pits of despair.

In Jesus’ last days He gave us this,

“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

We Christians, or most of us, know this verse. Maybe not memorized or even know the chapter and verse. BUT we know it.  Others know all sorts of history and theology about where exactly Jesus was when he said it and every detail surrounding the moment.

Stepping away for a moment, but bringing it all together…I hope….

My Grandpa passed away on Christmas Day. On the day we celebrate the Lord’s love for us when He gave us his son, part of my family lost someone we loved. Just like Jesus’ birth was a blessing hidden in a manger my Grandpa’s death was a blessing hidden death. A quote of his that my family seems to be hanging on to in his passing was part of a toast that he shared with my brother at different holiday gatherings.

“You live and I never die.”

This evening while asking God to give me the words to write a post that I really did not feel like writing all I had were these two thoughts coming together. Before I connect them for you and even for me I need to stress two things about the verses that never sunk in for me until tonight. The first is AS I HAVE LOVED YOU … He died for us…He lived everyday for us…He sought ways to express His great love. Can I love people that way? Strangers? My enemies? The second is IF YOU HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. See people will know we are a disciple IF WE HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.  IF IF IF IF WE HAVE LOVE. No other way. The way people know that we know Jesus is if we LOVE them. How we express that love is simply HOW WE LIVE!  There we have it. To continue please allow me to substitute in a word in the scripture.

*I give you a new commandment: LIVE FOR one another. As I have LIVED for you, so you also should LIVE FOR one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have LIVED for one another.

Now Jesus used the word love and He of course meant to. By NO MEANS do I EVER think to understand or assume anything about His meaning. Yet, I can not help, but think that if the way to SHOW people we are disciples is to love one another AND if we are to LOVE one another like He loved us. THEN wouldn’t we also have to LIVE like He did? Not perfect lives, but lives of and about LOVE. To Love someone means to Live for them.?.? Yes?? Then “We love and He never dies”.

So, can I love another like He loved me? How do we live for others to show love for others?