Love One Another

At the time of me penning this article it has been one year and two months since the tragic loss of someone whom I loved dearly, Sean Cavender. He was someone who loved others dearly but most importantly exemplified the love of Christ to the world. When thinking of a word to describe Sean, love is the first word that comes to mind and love is what this article is about. Sean was a Bible preacher and few topics are talked about more in the Bible than love. Few are also the number of people that come to mind that manifest this love for people as much as Sean did. People were Sean’s hobby.

Sean introduced me to GROW Magazine two years ago by asking for my participation in the writing of an article about the Gospel of Matthew. In preparing for this writing it didn’t take long for me to understand that Matthew’s goal was to prove Jesus was the Messiah but while doing so he also highlighted what Jesus emphasized while on earth and that is the kingdom and kingdom citizenship behavior.  Unquestionably being a follower of Jesus requires a certain way of living and Matthew wanted to make sure his readers knew what this life looked like by carefully describing how Jesus lived this out Himself. Jesus wants His followers to display true love to the world and so He showed that love first and left an example for us. He desires citizens with humble pure hearts that put others’ needs in front of their own. He wants His followers to show the world the Father through the way they live their lives because this is the only way they would know. Sean worked hard at this. He wanted to preach the good news of Jesus to the world and he knew that preaching Jesus meant living like Jesus which meant showing love to all. A couple verses come to mind that begin capturing this thought. Paul, speaking to the Philippians about Jesus’ example said,

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5.

In Galatians 5:13, Paul says, “serve one another through love.” Putting others first like Jesus did is Christianity 101. The apostle John describes this beautifully by quoting Jesus in John 13:34-35,

“I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

Much can be said and much has been said on these short and powerful verses. What I want us to note though is that this love we’re to extend to others started with God (John 3:16), was exemplified by God, shows God to the world and ultimately glorifies God. It’s a love that goes as far as it needs to go. It’s not a quick emotion or a matter of sentiment or feeling. It’s a sacrificial love of choice. It’s a love that includes all people both good and bad. This is Agape love, the highest level of love. It’s intentional, pure and noble.

Let’s consider some thoughts that arise from the teaching while keeping in mind that this is kingdom citizenship behavior. Full stop. If we want to exercise discipleship, if we want to share Jesus, if we want to do as Paul says in Ephesians 5:1-2 and “Be imitators of God…..and walk in love” then this teaching must be studied and practiced. We must not take anything in the Bible lightly and Jesus says to, “love one another” three times in just two verses, this is critical teaching.

The first comment is that loving one another was not something that they had never heard before. For centuries, Jewish followers of Yahweh had heard and read the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18. This love though, discharged by Jews seemed limited and narrow, at least in its application. What was new was its “breadth, and width, and scope” (Woods). Also new was that they now had the perfect model in the flesh. Jesus left the glories of Heaven and showed the ultimate act of servitude by putting on flesh, living a perfect life and taking on the sins of the world by sacrificing Himself for the world. John 1:29. 1 John 2:2 says, “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” This changes everything. Now everything we do, every decision we make, every word we utter has something to copy or mimic. There’s now a criterion, a standard we can reference and reflect on that offers us guidance and puts everything into perspective.  When “Jesus died for ME”, or “Jesus saved ME” is the backdrop of our life then following the command of “love one another” becomes easier. It becomes easier because it helps us see ourselves as we really are. It levels the playing field and helps us recognize we are all the same. We are sinners and in need of grace and mercy. Thankfully, Jesus has made this possible. Because of this, there is zero reason why we shouldn’t be reciprocating such love to others. Paul says in Romans 5:8,

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This should make extending love especially easy towards family, friends and even strangers. But it should also extend beyond the easy to the difficult. When we’ve been wronged, when we’ve been sinned against, when our feelings are hurt, loving one another can prove challenging.  We live in a world that tests and pushes us to our limits. Blatant evil is being praised, corruption is everywhere you look, children are being bullied, people are disrespecting authority, etc… It seems like the world has turned its back on civility and every day living the life of a Christian is easier said than done.  The devil is no dummy and he steals our compassion on the regular. When this happens to us and we’re resisting showing the love God wants us to show, just remember there’s nothing anyone can do to us that compares to what we’ve done to God. We sinned and we deserve condemnation just like our enemies. Let this humble us and remember that the proper response is still love. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44 The proper response is love in action as described 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Study these verses carefully as you work hard practicing Agape love. Also ask yourself these questions; how could we not extend love to others when God extended love to us? How could we not show mercy to others when we want God to show mercy to us? Don’t forget “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” Matthew 5:7 And then read 1 John 3, a chapter that perhaps we don’t think about much but highlights well the call to love one another. Friends, this selfless sacrificial love is the center of Christianity and it started with God. It’s the badge of discipleship. Thinking of these things can help us ensure we’re showing love just like Jesus loved us.

Perhaps you’re not a member of the kingdom. Perhaps you haven’t recognized that God truly loves you. He desires for you to be saved and so He put a redeeming plan in place involving His Son. It was the ultimate display of unconditional love. He did His part and now all that remains is you doing your part. Surrendering yourself to the divine one who mimicked us by coming to earth in the flesh and giving His life for our sins. Let us mimic Him by showing love back to Him and to the world. Let’s remember He said, “if you love Me, you’ll keep my commandments.” 

Maybe you struggle with putting others first. Maybe you’re weak in showing Agape love to the world. Pray to God for help and remember that all God wants is our best effort accompanied with our best heart. Keep working, keep trying and never give up. When it seems like you’ve sacrificed all you can for someone, sacrifice even more.

I will never get to see or speak to Sean again. I’ll never get to create anymore memories with him but what I can do is remember him through my efforts in trying to imitate Christ just like he did. This will honor Sean’s memory but more importantly will honor God.

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October 2024 | GROW magazine