Jesus Christ commanded his followers to love each other as he has loved them. Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Are you obeying these commands? If you are obeying these commands, your joy will overflow. If you are not obeying these commands, you may be guilty before God of being a murderer.
“A new command I give you: Love25 one another. As I have loved25 you, so you must love25 one another. (John 13:34)
“I have loved25 you even as the Father has loved25 me. Remain in my love26. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love26, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love26. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love25 each other in the same way I have loved25 you. There is no greater love26 than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love25 each other. (John 15:9-17)
For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love25 your neighbor as yourself.” Love26 does no wrong to others, so love26 fulfills the requirements of God’s law. (Romans 13:9-10)
25 agapáō – VERB properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to “live through Christ” (1 Jn 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God’s will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáō) preeminently refers to what God prefers as He “is love” (1 Jn 4:8,16). See 26 (agapē).
With the believer, 25 /agapáō (“to love”) means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True 25 /agapáō (“loving”) is always defined by God – a “discriminating affection which involves choice and selection” (WS, 477). 1 Jn 4:8,16,17 for example convey how loving (“preferring,” 25 /agapáō) is Christ living His life through the believer.
26 agápē – NOUN properly, love which centers in moral preference. So too in secular ancient Greek, 26 (agápē) focuses on preference; likewise the verb form (25 /agapáō) in antiquity meant “to prefer” (TDNT, 7). In the NT, 26 (agápē) typically refers to divine love (= what God prefers).
Hatred is the opposite of love, it is the opposite of God’s command
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. (1 John 3:11-24)
For deeper study:
- If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar – Christians are supposed to love one another. If a man hates his brother, it’s easy to excuse himself by asking “Who is my brother?”
- Are you a prophet killer? – Diversity in the body of Christ brings disharmony, distrust, disunity, and even hatred. Will you fulfill the first commandment? Or are you a prophet killer?