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A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. JOHN 13:34-35
Jonathan Edwards wrote that one of the great evidences of true revival is that the heart’s affections are warmed towards God. This is the primary aim of revival, because it is the primary command of all of Scripture: “You shall love the Lord Your God with all of Your heart, mind, soul, and strength” (Luke 10:27). Jesus declares that the second greatest commandment, however, is “to love Your neighbor as You love Yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Or as He defined it later during the Last Supper: “to love one another as I have loved you.”
Words fail to describe this kind of brotherly love that we are called to. Our highest ecumenical efforts, our unions and networks on our campuses, great as they are, are infantile compared to this kind of love. This kind of love does not have unity as its goal — it has love as its goal. And this kind of love is the only path to true unity. This kind of love has love for God and His Lordship and His Word as its highest priority, and thus is the only kind of love that produces true agape love towards the brethren. This kind of love thinks nothing of self, agenda, or gain, for it “does not seek its own.” This is the kind of love that will be the fabric of the Church in the age to come.
This kind of love is born in a manger. This kind of love hid an eternal crown to bring other sons to glory. This kind of love became a man though God from all of eternity. This kind of love washed the feet of His disciples — even the one who would betray Him. This kind of love did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. It is not the world’s definition of love: the cheap, humanistic version of tolerance and selfish kindness. It is His definition of love: “for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).
Pray for believers to love one another like God loves. Pray for love to abound between different campus ministries on campus. “Father, we ask that You would give us that love that You had for us, for one another. We confess our bitterness, comparison, criticism, and our general negligence towards one another. We confess that we cannot love one another as we ought. Lord, produce it in us in these days of fasting and praying. Do a of love abound among the brethren! Jesus, we ask that Your love would transcend racial barriers, denominational lines, and movements. For Your Name, Amen.”
