To Love for Real

Jesus calls it a "new commandment" — but loving your neighbor wasn't new under the law of Moses. What was new was the standard: "as I have loved you." That's the difference. Not loving the way you feel like it, not loving the way seems fair, but loving the way Jesus loved.

And how did Jesus love? He washed the disciples' feet. He walked toward the outcasts. He touched the lepers. He forgave from the cross. He loved without expecting anything back, without keeping score, without ever collecting on the debt.

That standard is too high for any of us. And Jesus knows it. That's why He didn't say "you have to get there on your own." He said "as I have loved you" — which means the model is found in Him, and so is the strength.

When you can't love someone the way they need to be loved, you can ask for Jesus' love to flow through you. You don't have to manufacture what you don't have. You need to connect with the One who does.

Today, who can you love just a little more the way Jesus would?