There was the great commandment, a part of the Shema, that commands that we love God and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, but Jesus goes beyond that. He commands us to love as he has loved us. This is not an option if we are to be a follower of Christ. We are commanded to the highest form of love: to lay down our lives for our friends. This is the fruit we are intended to bear, lasting fruit: love. This is what will transform the world: lay-down-my-life-for-you-love.

I know how difficult this kind of love is. It is not something that arises out of emotion or comes naturally to us. It is supernatural. "Abide in me," Jesus says, and I will abide in you, "for apart from me you can do nothing." This love flows to us from Christ. It is the primary task of discipleship. In our Wesleyan tradition it is the definition of holiness. As the Body of Christ can we do less than love as Christ loves?

Could it be that at the heart of our struggle in our relationships today is that we keep trying to make something else the mark of our discipleship? Do we harbor a faith and love that places other’s first? Are we willing to love enough to be willing to die for those Jesus loves? In loving as Jesus commands we are called, even commanded to live for others. Is that what we see in our churches? Which takes priority: the wants of those in the church or the needs of those outside it? Do the communities in which we locate think of us as friends willing to die for them or institutions sitting in judgment over them?

Which do you think we are? Which is Jesus? "This is my commandment,’ Jesus says to us, ‘that you should love one another as I have loved you." "You did not choose me but I chose you." Let’s go bear fruit.

Love one another and go forth. http://www.regenesis2x2.com/d.cgi/3570/home.html