When I was in Kindergarten, the teachers taught me the Alphabet. Obviously, before you can learn how to spell, you have to learn the alphabet. As you learn to spell words, you learn that the letters are written separate, so you lift your pencil up every time you write a letter.
Then, when I was in third grade, I learned how to write cursive. With cursive writing, I was learning the same letters I already learned in Kindergarten, but was writing them fancier. And when I wrote a word, instead of lifting the pencil up for each letter, the letters would be joined together, in one pen stroke, most of the time.
Well it’s the same with God’s commandment to love. It’s not new…It’s been around since the beginning of Creation, with Adam and Eve. Then, when God gave the Law through Moses, He was very specific in Leviticus 19:18 and Deut 6:5 to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Fast forward to when Jesus came, and He said, “A new Commandment I give to you, to love one another as I have loved you.” It’s the same commandment, but Jesus is more specific…“As I have loved you…” So instead of loving your neighbor as yourself, we’re told to love as He loves us, and that’s a higher standard, given by Jesus to the church.
So, just like cursive handwriting is written with the same letters from the alphabet, but is more beautiful, so too is Christ’s command to love one another. Love is still love, but loving like Christ is more beautiful. It's something we learn when we become Christians, and grow in our walk with Him.