Jesus Speaks Of The Essence Of His Love

Jesus Speaks Of The Essence Of His Love

JOHN 13:34-35 " A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The essential nature of a child of God and a follower of Jesus Christ is love. This is the essence of the statement made here by our Savior on that momentous night before His crucifixion. He had just shown His disciples what love really means. How love involves a servant spirit that condescends first of all to the needs of others. He had not only given a submissive and practical illustration of how such love could be placed into action, but in doing so He had taught Peter and the others a parallel lesson on loving forgiveness.

Jesus' expression of the essence of Godly love was part of His living out and fulfilling the demands and requirements of the law. Here we see the Great Commandment fleshed out. (Matt. 5:43-48) This example also serves as a living illustration of the first fruit of the Spirit. Although every fruit is related to, and in one sense interdependent upon the other, without this love there can be no other real spiritual fruit.

Yes, the true essence of Christ-like love could be characterized as the expression of a submissive servant spirit. As someone has said, "Real Christ-like submission involves a total committal to first meet the needs of another." This principle could and should be applied to all church, family and societal relationships. Especially to relationships within the human family and the family of God. To illustrate this point, Ted Engstrom tells the following story:

It seemed Joe had just about had it with his wife of three years. He no longer thought of her as attractive or interesting; he considered her to be a poor housekeeper who was overweight, someone he no longer wanted to live with. Joe was so upset that he finally decided on divorce. But before he served her the papers, he made an appointment with a psychologist with the specific purpose of finding out how to make life as difficult as possible for his wife.

The psychologist listed to Joe's story and then gave this advice, "Well, Joe, I think I've got the perfect solution for you. Starting tonight when you get home, I want you to start treating your wife as if she were a goddess. That's right, a goddess. I want you to change your attitude toward her 180 degrees. Start doing everything in your power to please her. Listen intently when she talks about her problems, help around the house, take her out to dinner on weekends. I want you to literally pretend that she is a goddess. Then, after two months of this wonderful behavior, just pack your bags and leave her. The should get her!

Joe thought that it was a tremendous idea. That night he started treating his wife as if she were a goddess. He couldn't wait to do things for her. He brought her breakfast in bed and had flowers delivered to her for no apparent reason. Within three weeks the two of them had gone on two romantic weekend vacations. They read books to each other at night, and Joe listened to her as never before. It was incredible what Joe was doing for his wife. He kept it up for the full two months. After the allotted time, the psychologist gave Joe a call at work.

"Joe," he asked, "how's it going? Did you file for divorce? Are you a happy bachelor once again?"

"Divorce?" asked Joe in dismay. "Are you kidding? I'm married to a goddess. I've never been happier in my life. I'd never leave my wife in a million years. In fact, I'm discovering new , wonderful things about her every single day. Divorce? Not on your life."

Our Savior's example of loving, humble service is the way we should go if we are to be happy and fulfilled in our Christian walk. Vance Havner said on this subject, "Few of us are big enough to become small enough to be used of God." Alexander Murray said, "As water seeks to fill the lowest places, so does the glory and power of God seek to fill those who are found empty of self and humble before God."

The term, "significant others," has become a popular and well known concept in the pop psychologist's vocabulary. Of course, we can understand the positive implication of the concept as it relates to family and friends. But it is obvious that the Great Commandment and the New Commandment is God's way of telling us that everyone around us is a significant other. But some are perhaps more significant than others because of their place, proximity and position in our lives. Jesus and the New Testament writers, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, repeatedly used the term, "one another," to emphasize this concept and responsibility. (See I John 4:11, 23, 11-12, II John 5, I Pet. 1:22, Ro. 13:8, James 4:11)