John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

The Upper Room Discourse is so incredibly rich, I think I could preach on literally any verse in it! This verse is certainly no exception, and it is  justly famous. There is no other religion on earth that has a statement like this in its foundation. That said, we need to be careful we don’t confuse the love that Jesus speaks of here with maudlin sentimentality. This isn’t just feel-good emotion. Reading through the Gospel record, we see that at times Jesus was very strong with His disciples, pointing out the shallowness of their faith and even telling Peter he was being a spokesman for Satan! (Matthew 16:23) As I tell parents, spoiling children does not accurately convey love to them. To love others accurately, we need an accurate assessment of how God loves us. All too often, we feel like God is picking on us when things don’t go exactly as we would like, but that is actually never the case. God allows hard things in our lives in order to train and grow us. No parent actually wants their child to grow up to be a lazy, worthless, entitled bum, but our flesh would like God to treat us that way! In considering God’s love for us, we need to consider two statements (at least) by Paul: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) And, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) There are actually many more passages that I could quote that back this up. Accordingly, we need to appreciate God’s love for us and so allow that love to flow through us to those around us. Understood this way, the popular long of quite a few years ago is actually accurate: “It’s love that makes the world go round.”

I was blessed to be raised with an awareness of God’s love and my parents’ love. I tell parents that beyond basic physical necessities, all children really need is an awareness of their parents’ love for them, and an awareness of their parents’ love for each other. Any child who has those two things is blessed, and is likely to grow to be a happy, productive adult. Sadly, all too many children lack one or both of those, and the consequences can be horrendous. I am a “parent proxy” for a lot of people, and it is a blessed opportunity. The past two days I have interacted with the extended family of a man I met only a couple of weeks ago, and the “love flow” has been remarkable. After I returned from the crematorium yesterday I commented to my wife that I don’t think there’s anyone in that extended family who doesn’t like us now, even with this short exposure, but I made it clear to them that if they want to follow that man to heaven, they need to believe in Jesus. Love commands, not hinders, bold witnessing!

Father, thank You for the clear awareness of Your presence and anointing over the past two days. Thank You also for the disappointments at the P.O. after-hours window and the store where I buy printer ink. Those too were blessings, to teach me to focus on You and Your schedule for me. I ask for wisdom and anointing in all the things that are going on today and tomorrow, because there too the opportunities for misplaced priorities are abundant. May I be Your agent of love in every interaction, so that Your purposes may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!