“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” - John 13:34

Loving each other is not a new command per se. It was already there in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. What’s new is that Jesus is now the yardstick we live by and the power we live on. First, how much love have we given to one another? One very difficult commandment is the commandment to love one another. It becomes complex when the commandment goes further to say we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Some of us flip over our bibles when we get to this point, or simply glance through the point. Why is this so? It is so basically because we are human beings, and weak in the things of the spirit. Even when the spirit is willing to follow this commandment, the flesh is weak, and not able to comprehend the mystery of showing love to one another. Love is a neutralizer; it neutralizes every negative, satanic, and demonic influence, howsoever perpetrated – whether in the spiritual or in the physical! Every Christian is under authority to love one another, and love his neighbors. Today’s word reminds us about the need to love. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give you”—not a new suggestion, or a new idea, or a new possibility, or a new life-option, but a new commandment. We MUST LOVE OTHERS JUST THE WAY JESUS LOVED US. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, He told them; “if then, I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

This means that in showing love, we have to lay aside our status, and become a servant of all. It also entails that we engage in practical deeds of helpfulness. Living on the love of Jesus entails us taping into his vital life force – His power and spirit to conquer all things. By His power and spirit, we are also given the power to love. This point becomes clear in John 15:9–10, which says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” The secret to perfect love is to abide in Jesus by obeying His commandments. Jesus says He is able to love because of His relationship with His father – He abides in His Father’s love by obeying His father’s commandments. This means that through obedience to God, Jesus is able to secure a permanent hold on His father’s love. This gives Jesus the power to love us in return only if we are able to abide in Him through obedience! Beloved, perfect love is possible only if we abide in Christ through obedience. Those who abide in Christ through obedience are not only loved in return, they are also given the power to express perfect love to others. Therefore, lean on Jesus today, and gain the power to love perfectly. By so doing, you will begin to experience a life of victory in all situations!