John 15:1-17
Love Each Other
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Matthew 5:43-48
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
If followers of Jesus could and would love each and every neighbor, then the world would see the Christian as a little different from those around them...Loving one another sounds like an easy thing to do...But loving everyone is not easy...We for some reason do not love each and everyone of the people on earth...And to love someone who has harmed us or to love an enemy is extremely difficult, and a teaching of Jesus...So, in this respect, love is not easy...If love were easy we would follow Jesus' teachings and love all our enemies...
And in this teaching of loving neighbor and enemy, Jesus also teaches us to love one another...And when we do people will see that we are His disciples...Lovers share, they share their love with others...For if there was only one person on earth, who could they love on earth...If we do not love, then we only consider ourselves...But those who love, love others and know the importance of loving others, and loving their neighbors...Yet, beyond family and friends, is when loving gets more difficult...But when we love our neighbors, we see the importance of fellowship and community...There is both a joy and love in fellowship and community...If we could get everyone to follow Jesus' command of love one another, there would be a great shift in the world view of Christians, because we would be following one of His most important commands...