The Commandment of God!

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 NIV

A disciple is a follower, who is being taught better ways to do a specific thing that they wanted to be mentored in for free. Thus, we go to someone who has more experience than us, to do a particular thing. For instance, Elijah Cho was my chess disciple, even though it was for little while. He used to always come to the chess fellowship that I created in the church when I was in New York, as he wanted to learn how to play chess well. After several chess practices, he finally beat me in chess. The another example of this might be that I am being Jesus Christ’s disciple on spreading His gospel and His word to others by writing devotionals. I started to write devotionals from late 2013 and I do not tend to quit in devotional-writing unless I am really busy, such as going to school and doing my school assignments. Because of writing devotionals for others has impacted me spiritually, I have decided that I am going to be a Christian Writer.

Nevertheless, Jesus Christ calls His every followers His disciples. Not only spreading His gospel and His word is important, loving one another is also important for us to do everyday to be disciples. I think loving others is so important, that Jesus Christ preferred it to be the second greatest commandment of God (Mark 12:30-31). The main reason for this is that love comes from God and love is God. Hence, if we love one another unconditionally, then we are basically spreading His light (1 John 4:7-12). This does not mean that we have to love everyone unconditionally that we have to become a pimp or a prostitute because loving others in this way is sin (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). Loving one another unconditionally in God’s way is to care for them to the point that we highly value them above ourselves and we sacrifice ourselves for their sake (Philippians 2:1-8).

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 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. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. 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. 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. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17)

God has loved us so much that He willingly sent His beloved Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself, into the world to take away from  our sins by crucifying Himself on the cross, in order to give us eternal life (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10). Our sin has always been about falling in short of the glory of God because of the world. Thus, Jesus Christ was the evidence that there always has been better life than our worldly nature. He declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) I believe the reason why we are on this earth has always been knowing about intimately (John 17:3) because our primary sin has always been getting the knowledge of good and evil. God has wanted us to depend on Him for everything. I think that was why God urged Adam not to eat the fruit in the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:8-3:11). Thus, how can we be filled with the knowledge of God in the presence of the Lord right away if God takes us to the kingdom of heaven?

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel… (Colossians 1:15-23)

Since the power of love transforms us, why do not we spread His love and His light by doing good works in Him (Matthew 5:13-16)? The main reason for this is that Jesus Christ is the way of the truthful life to God, since He is the perfect image of Him (John 14:6-7). The power of Christ’s love has an amazing ability, that we are able to forget all transgressions and sins that were committed (1 Peter 4:8). It is like worldly love but if other partner or spouse got angry of something, then partners and spouses are not able to restore their love to each other very easily. However, I believe that many Christian couples are able to endure their love to their partners or spouses because Jesus Christ is the main source of love. Nonetheless, every followers of Jesus have to spread the love of God to not only those who is willing to return this love back but to everyone, including their enemies (Luke 6:27-36), in order to make eternal unity and peace with each other (Colossians 3:12-15; Romans 13:8-10) and to make Jesus Christ known to the world (1 John 4:7-21).

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13)