Commanded to Love

John 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

From the scriptures we see that not only did Jesus love deeply and genuinely, but He instructed ALL of His disciples to Love.  Not just instructing them to love though, He commanded them to Love.  The word Commandment calls our focus back to the Old Testament with God bringing His moral law down the people on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 20.  A commandment is God’s divine rule to be obeyed.  When Jesus said, A New Commandment, he wasn’t suggesting they love one another, but that they submit unto this commandment whole heartedly if they would be His disciples. 

This sinful world has persuaded us that love is only a feeling that unless you have it, you cannot fulfill this command from Jesus.  Interestingly enough, from this verse we glean the fact that love is not a feeling; Love is a choice.  Love is more than a choice though; Love is a moral decision.  That moral decision is a command from the Lord to be obeyed if we are to be a follower of Christ.  We have no choice in the matter.  We cannot opt out and say we don’t feel love toward certain people.  This is why Jesus commanded us to love.

If you love the Lord, you will not have a problem obeying what the Lord has asked of you.  Scripture teaches us that we love because He first loved us.  We know how to love because Jesus has not only shown us how to love by the way he loved people, but he has shown that same love to us personally. 

If we follow Jesus, love is a rule of the road.  We love because it is right, it is righteous.  Love is an attribute of God.  Love is a character trait of God.  Events take place in our lives that provoke us to anger, wrath and hatred.  However, Love is always the command; always the choice we are to make. 

When Jesus was approached by the Pharisees and was called Lord to them, He replied in Luke 6:46 by saying “Why call ye me Lord, and do not the things which I say?”  Love is a decision, not just a feeling.  The same should be said of us.  Can I call Jesus my Lord if I do not obey His command to love?  Inasmuch as Jesus commanded his disciples to love, Jesus also knew that any attribute of God cannot be produced in the heart of sinful man.  Therefore, the commandment to love requires that we come to the Lord asking Him to give us this kind of love so that we may walk in it today and be well-pleasing unto the Lord.