“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Sitting at supper with his disciples, knowing all that would coming in the hours ahead, Jesus gave his followers a new commandment. Love one another. In some ways it doesn’t seem all that new; the Bible talks a lot about love, and Jesus even said the central command in all the Torah was to love God with everything you’ve got and to love your neighbor as yourself. So what’s new about love?
But it’s more than just an exhortation to care for each other or to be nice. Jesus tells us to love one another just as he has loved us. And if we look at the life of Jesus, we get a clearer sense of what that love looks like. It makes space for those who have been cast aside. It shows deference and dignity to those who have been treated as less than. It forgives offenses, not just once, but to a ridiculous degree. It prays for enemies. The Apostle Paul says it well: “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
As Valentine’s Day approaches, maybe it seems like love is in the air. There are hearts and chocolates and roses everywhere. There is pressure to show the ones we care for just what they mean to us. Or sometimes it comes with painful reminders and hard feelings. But what if we devoted the same energy to love all the time? What if we took time out of every day to care for someone else—not just those nearest and dearest to us, but even and especially those we find hard to love? What if we devoted more time and energy to making room at the table, honor others’ perspectives, forgiving offenses, and praying for those with whom we disagree?
Burt Bacharach was right: “What the world needs now is love.” And for we who follow Jesus, love is always more than a feeling; it is a way of life. May we strive to love like Jesus. May we be known by the love we live out.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Will Starkweather
Last modified: February 20, 2025