Command 40 : Love Your Neighbor | Day 278

Understand the New Commandment!

The parents were alarmed when their 17-year-old daughter ran away from home. There didn't appear to be any wrong friends involved, and she was not turning her back on God. She simply could not get along with her parents and claimed that nothing she did ever pleased them.

When I asked about their daughter's complaint, the parents explained, "We have always been strict on ourselves and have been strict in our training of her as well." Through their commitment to perfectionism, they had communicated to their daughter a conditional love: "We will love you as long as you 'measure up.' " In their minds, they loved their daughter as they did themselves. However, they failed to understand the basis of loving others. In John 13:34, Jesus explained the type of love we are to show others.

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

At first I did not understand what made this a "new" commandment, because it sounded so similar to the old one! Then, as I read it carefully, I saw the distinction that was being made between loving others as we love ourselves and loving others as Christ loved us.

The application of loving our neighbors according to the "old commandment" could be considered subjective--based on the love we show ourselves. However, the new commandment leaves no room for speculation about the type of love we are to show others. Jesus loves us unconditionally. He loved us when we hated Him; He loves us when we disobey Him; He continues to love us even when we reject Him.

Years ago, a shy young woman named Betty came to me for counsel. Although her parents had been missionaries and she desired to serve in missions herself, she was thoroughly defeated in her Christian life and was plagued with depression and guilt over her "unpardonable" sins. She had asked God to forgive her many times, yet she was plagued with a sense of worthlessness before God.

As we talked, I encouraged her to receive God's forgiveness, forgive and accept herself, and recognize that God was not finished working in her life. Based on several significant factors, I also encouraged her to confess her sins to her parents and dedicate her life to single service for the Lord, which she did. As Betty began to focus on the depth of God's love and acceptance of her, her love for others increased. Shortly thereafter, she went to Vietnam as a medical missionary.

At the time, Vietnam was a war-torn country, and in 1968 there was fierce fighting near the missionary clinic. One day Betty and several fellow missionaries were captured by the Viet Cong and forced to march day after day for months. She grew weaker and weaker and eventually died. Later it was learned that in the midst of her own indescribable suffering, she had shared her meager food rations with a fellow missionary who survived the ordeal.

As we recognize the great love that Christ has for us, we should be motivated to love others.

Betty's unselfish love for others was based on Christ's great love and forgiveness of her. The more she understood and received His love, the more love she was able to give others. Each of us has been forgiven a huge debt of sin. Let's thank God for the unconditional love He gives us and show that same kind of love to our neighbors.