LOVING BY SERVING
STUDY SCRIPTURE: JOHN 13
KEY VERSE
“For I have given you an example, that you do as I have done to you”.
INTRODUCTION
In this lesson we are talking both something that is extremely important Because Jesus said that it is important and we have to listen to what He tells us and obey Him.
Jesus was having the first Communion Service which some call the Lord’s Supper. He was together with His disciples. He told them some things that they were not happy to hear. He told them:
-I am leaving,
-Love one another while I’m gone, and
-That love will mark you out as My disciples.
Even though Jesus told them repeatedly that He was going to die on the Cross as a sacrifice for the sins of people in the world they did not want to accept such a difficult and painful teaching. They did not want Jesus to go through that kind of suffering.
Also they did not want Jesus to leave them even though He told them that after He died on the Cross He would be resurrected and then go back to be with His Father in Heaven. So we can understand the pain that the disciples felt and their refusal to accept that kind of painful idea. They like us sometimes go into denial.
Jesus therefore gave them an order. It was a command. He told them:
I am giving you a new command. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. You also must love one another”.
It is very important to note that Jesus was not only speaking and commanding the disciples that were at the Supper. He was speaking to all of us.
Some people of course do not remember that but it is important that we remind you of that command. You see, just before the Supper in the disciples were fighting among themselves as to who would be the greatest in the Kingdom that Jesus would establish. They were fighting each other, gossiping about each other, and not helping each other at all. That was not good behaviour. Jesus was not very happy with them.
Therefore Jesus had to show the disciples what God the Father wanted from them, how they were supposed to live. He reminded the disciples that they were supposed to show the world that God’s love was in their hearts and that they cared about each other and would help one another no matter what the circumstances.
The command was very strong for the disciples were told that if they did not love one another as Jesus had showed He loved them, and Jesus showed His love for them by dying on the Cross to save them, God the Father would not be consider them to be true disciples of Jesus. They would not be considered to be people who could represent God in the world.
It is therefore important to realize that we are to have love for the brethren and love for people. We are to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
There are to be no “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts”. No excuses are acceptable. This is a command from God Himself
This kind of love is very special and it is called “agape love”. It is a love that God will give you the ability to show.
You will show this love by serving others, helping them when they are in difficulty, not thinking badly about them, treating them nicely, being patient with them, and not disrespecting them, among other things of course.
You will see the list of those things that love will demonstrate in 1 Corinthians 13, the Lesson we studied last week.
We have to remember that we are special people and have a special position or status in life. We are children of God because we have believed in Jesus. We therefore are special people and we have special responsibilities. God will help us to carry out those special responsibilities. So we really have no excuse not to behave and LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Remember that we are not to behave like the way people in the rest of the world behave. Jesus told us that we are the salt of the earth and this salt we have keeps back the corruption and evil in the world.
We are also to be like a “light” set on a hill so that everybody could see what was right and get good directions so that they would live properly.
So don’t worry about it too much just because you are children. God is with you. God told us that the Angels of God will camp or come and stay right around you and keep you. So remember that you’re to love one another. There are very great rewards from God when you do that. OKAY.