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January 20
A New Command
Love is certainly not a new command or a new
concept to the Christian. It is not even a
concept that is confined to Christianity alone.
Many religions teach about love and promote it
as one of the keys to the religion.
The new command that Jesus gives His disciples
is a new kind of love. It is not a vague
and general love that many people feel for each
other. It is a deep and self sacrificing
love that only a few of capable of showing.
Beginning in John 13, Jesus warns His disciples
in earnest that He would be leaving them and
that He would go to die on the cross. They
don't fully understand it until later.
This is the ultimate example of the self
sacrificing love that Jesus is instructing His
disciples to display.
The love that Jesus demonstrates for His
disciples and for the whole world is a new kind
of love that hasn't been seen before. This
is why Jesus is able to call it a new command.
People will be able to identify Jesus' followers
by this type of love because it is so different
from the way the rest of the world loves.
This new, self sacrificing love will set the
disciples and us apart from everyone else.
They will know that we are Christians by our
love.
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