MUST LOVE

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

IF YOU LIKE THIS POST PLEASE FOLLOW US, SHARE WITH OTHERS AND PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS AND GIVE US A LIKE.

Translate this site into your preferred language, look for our Google translator in our home page: diningwithjesus.net

Traduce este sitio en tu idioma preferido, busca nuestro traductor de Google en nuestra página de inicio ve a: diningwithjesus.net

Why should Jesus Christ need to command his followers to love one another? Well, I bet you know the answer, and it is not so flattering. The history of the church has not always been filled with love and kindness toward those with whom we disagree. Jesus wanted to impress upon you and me that we must reflect a portion of the love that the Lord has poured out into us through the work of Christ. 

And so we hear this command in the following passage:

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

(John 15:12-17 NIV11) 

Our Model

Jesus does more than instruct his disciples to show love toward one another in this teaching. He places himself before us as a model of what real sacrificial love looks like. In his call to have his people love each other enough to lay down our lives for one another, he is reminding us that he has already laid down his life for us. 

So again, like the great King that he is, Jesus does not ask anything of us that he does not first model for us. No one can ever accuse Jesus of being a capricious dictatorial leader who demands far more of his subjects than he is willing to do on his own. Jesus laid down his life for us because that is what real love required. 

Friends

Jesus again appeals to his followers to observe his example and listen to his words, putting both into practice, not because of a command, but because of a relationship. 

Jesus calls us to model what we see in him because we are his friends or, more correctly, because he has chosen to call us his friends. Even in this gift of friendship, Jesus is seen as the giver of grace and mercy. We do not deserve this gift but if we want to be a friend of the Lord’s then we need to listen to his teaching. 

Ask

In the part of this teaching where Jesus says, “so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you”, we must see this open-ended promise in its context. 

Jesus is not telling his people that we are in control of the will of God. We do not sway the Lord’s plans and designs for the building of his kingdom nor do our requests trump the Lord’s desires. We cannot ask for those things which are outside of God’s will and expect to see these prayers fulfilled. 

Context

Instead, we need to see that this promise relates to what preceded it and what comes after it. So in context this promise sounds like the following:

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

The Lord promises to fulfill our requests as we seek to bear fruit that will last into eternity. The Lord promises to give us what we need to show love to one another. If we are praying for help in these areas of life-change and expression of the fruit of the Spirit, then yes, the Lord stands ready to provide what you need. 

If our requests are not a part of his kingdom and will, then we cannot expect these prayers to come to fruition. That is simply not possible. 

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, show me where I am in need of growth and change when it comes to showing sacrificial love to those you have placed into my sphere of influence. Help me turn away from anger or hatred toward those that I struggle to care for in my life. I want to follow for command and show love, I only need your love to flow through me today. Thank you Lord. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN

Works at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

Copyright © 2024 Ryan Laden – All Rights Reserved.