Love. Period. // John 14:21

Jesus’ closing time with the disciples focused on preparing them for living without Him…at least in the flesh. He promised the Helper to come, gave them an example for service, left them some powerful teaching, and then issued a new commandment: “This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:17). Those words, to love each other, is the ultimate encapsulation of Jesus’ earthly ministry from beginning to end. All that we are, and are called to do, is summed up in the way we love God and prove that love by the way we love all God’s children (1 John 5:2). All too often we look for Christianity to be reduced to a formula or equation, simplifying the messiness we experience in the world and in our relationships. Jesus’ teaching tells us it comes down to love, but WOW, that can be challenging, can’t it? What are we to do when the world, and the people in it, are unlovable? How are we to act when we recognize we ourselves are unlovable? Love anyway. It’s precisely what God did and does for us. God loves us fully, in spite of ourselves. He loves us sacrificially, because of Himself. That becomes our model. Love for God’s sake. God loves you because of who you are and because of who He is. Do the same regardless of what, or who, you encounter today. Love. Period.