34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

— John 13:34-35

9 As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love.

10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

— John 15:9-10

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

— Luke 10:27

37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

— Matthew 22:37-40

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

God explicitly commands us to share His love. Jesus gave a “new commandment” to love one another “just as I have loved you.”He stated that this sacrificial, unconditional love is the primary way the world will recognize His followers. Jesus is our pattern and power of loving one another and loving our neighbors. He abides in His Father’s love, and we are to abide in His love as well to have the power to love. Jesus lays aside rank and privilege to serve one another and others involving practical deeds of helpfulness.

God wants us to share His heart as we travel through this world that often seems crowded with faces and names. Let’s learn to invest our life in people. Let’s pray for our neighbors by name. When we meet someone who looks or lives differently than we do, let’s learn to recognize their deepest needs and respond appropriately. Only God knows who truly belongs to Him, but He calls us to focus beyond ourselves and share His love with others.