Loving One Another Is a Command

Many Christians find it sufficient, sometimes even pleasant, to enjoy sound doctrine, listen to preaching, hold strong convictions, and express those convictions when called upon. And these things are important and should be found in the lives of all faithful believers. But one other test of Christian faithfulness cannot be passed by simply nodding in agreement to ideals: do the people of God actually love one another?

Of all the commands given in the Bible to Christians about how they should live, you probably wouldn’t think of listing “love” as one of the most challenging. But the kind of love we find in God’s Word, if we take it seriously, requires us to fully die to ourselves in order to attain it. And it isn’t an option.

Scripture gives believers a simple but penetrating command: we have a duty of affectionate, sincere, genuine love toward one another. This command is not satisfied with politeness, tolerance, or the “peace” of people who agree to set aside their differences in public. Pure, Christlike love.

Jesus Himself gives this command in several passages, including John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

And again in John 15:12: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

In these passages, we see just how important this love is. Firstly, it is a command of God. Lack of love is a sin and must be repented of. Secondly, this love is a mark of discipleship. We often talk a big game about our willingness to take a stand for truth and the gospel in a hostile culture… while we fall short of one of the most impactful distinctions of a child of God. Anyone can give verbal, emotional, and mental assent to what is right. But only a Christian can truly love God’s people.

The world outside the walls of the Church may scratch its head at our theology, worship, and convictions. But one thing it can recognize is love. People who bear with one another. People who forgive one another. People who take care of one another throughout life’s ups and downs. On the other hand, it can also recognize when we talk about love, but our relationships are defined by suspicion, jealousy, bitterness, annoyance, and coldness.

God taught us how to love

There is a common saying in church life: “We do not have to like everyone, but we do have to love them.” There is a small truth in that sentence, since true love is deeper than shared taste or natural chemistry. Nobody is required to have the same closeness with every person.

But the sentence can also become a hiding place, a thinly veiled excuse. Sometimes what people mean is, “There is no warmth, patience, delight, or pursuit in this relationship, but a technical category called love still exists somewhere in the background.”

This is not the love that characterizes the members of God’s family.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 says, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another…”

This is a complete overhaul of how we tend to think about love. Usually, love is something we think of as being earned, deserved, or naturally flowing from one person to another because of an irresistible quality about them. But the Bible teaches that Christian love is a fruit of the Spirit that becomes more evident as the Christian walks in obedience to God.

This is an important distinction. Christian love often must go farther than natural affection would. It is easy to have affection for people who are enjoyable, agreeable, easy to understand, or are like us in some way. Christian love, by its very nature, must overflow to people to whom natural affection finds no draw. God’s love was shown to miserable, worthless sinners who lived in a state of absolute rebellion against Him, and this is the love that now should be expressed through His children.

Love is evangelistic

Christian love is a distinctive of the followers of Jesus, and this means that the internal lives of churches have outward consequences.

A congregation that loves one another with God’s love becomes a living sermon. Not because they never have conflicts, but because conflicts are handled differently from how the world handles them. There is repentance. Forgiveness is freely given. Struggling people are not tossed aside. Lonely people are remembered. Burdens are shared and carried together. Joy is shared without envy. People are treated as souls with eternal value.

This kind of love does not require a perfect church. In fact, it shines most in imperfect churches where sinners keep choosing the way of Christ together.

The world is quite familiar with religious performance. Just look at the portrayal of Christians in entertainment: performative veneers with no substance or weight. The world has seen plenty of practice, heard plenty of words, and knows just enough “facts” about the Bible to shrug it off. What the world, sadly, has not often seen is people who genuinely love one another because God has first loved them.

And perhaps that is why this command feels so urgent. God knows we are good at the externals, keeping up appearances, and how these things can easily be props to hide that there’s not much going on underneath. It is when love is expressed, the real and unmistakable love that comes from God, that the world can’t ignore it anymore.