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The Scriptorium

The Standard for Love

Jesus sets the standard for love.

The Gospel of John: John 15.9-17

Read and meditate on John 15.12, 13.
Jesus sets the standard for what it means to love one another.

                         12“And this is My
commandment: Love each other, just as I
have loved you. 13There no greater love can be
than this, that someone love so much that he
would lay his life down for his friends.”

- John 15.12, 13

Reflect
1.  The mark of Christian discipleship is the love believers bear for one another (Jn. 13.35). But unless we understand love, we shall not be able to realize our calling as followers of Christ. For some people, love is primarily a feeling, a positive affection inclining them favorably toward another person. Is it legitimate to think of love in this way? Explain. Is it sufficient to think of love in this way? Explain. Complete this prayer: Lord, I know You call us to love You with all our heart, so love must entail some feeling; yet…

2.  Jesus set Himself as the example of what love requires: “as I have loved you.” Think back through our study of John’s gospel, and what you know about Jesus from other gospels. How did Jesus show that He loved His disciples? What can you point to as examples of how Jesus loved them? Help me day by day, Lord, to see You loving Your disciples, so that I…

3.  Jesus made loving one another a commandment. He did not say, “This is what I want you to feel.” He said, “This is My commandment…” Commandments are to be, first, understood, then obeyed, whether or not the proper feeling is present. Should you show love, even if you don’t feel like it? Do you suppose that doing so might help to shape the proper affections in your heart? Explain. Lord, make me ever ready to obey Your command, and help me to feel Your love for others as I…

4.  Meditate on Philippians 2.5-11. How many different ways did Jesus “lay down” His life for His “friends”? What might laying down your life for others require of you? What can you do to make sure you’ll be ready to lay down your life for your friends when the opportunity arises? Give me grace, Lord, to deny myself and take up my cross daily, so that…

5.  What can prevent us from loving one another as Jesus commands? What are the greatest obstacles we need to overcome in being ready and willing to lay down our lives for our friends? How can believers help one another to overcome these? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote for questions 1-4.

Summary
“The unique, the highest proof of love is this, to love the person who is against us. This is why Truth himself bore the suffering of the cross and yet bestowed his love on his persecutors, saying, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ Why should we wonder that his living disciples loved their enemies, when their dying master loved his? He expressed the depth of his love when he said, ‘No one has greater love that this, than that he lay down his life for his friends.’ The Lord had come to die even for his enemies, and yet he said he would lay down his life for his friends to show us that when we are able to win over our enemies by loving them, even our persecutors are our friends.” Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)

We are commanded to love, and the defining action of love is to set aside self-interest and look to the concerns and needs and cares of others. If we will act in love toward one another, looking to Jesus as our example, we will grow to feel love for one another, and thus become in mind, heart, conscience, and life, true followers of Jesus Christ. What will love require of you today?

Closing Prayer
Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds.
He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God,
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that cry.
He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!

Psalm 147.1-11

Psalm 147.1-11 (St. Ann: Our God, Our Help in Ages Past)
Praise God, for it is good to sing loud praises to the Lord!
With joy our songs of praise we bring to God and to His Word.

The Lord builds up His Church and He His people gathers in.
The broken hearts He tenderly repairs and heals their sin.

The stars He counts, He knows the name of every chosen soul;
His pow’r is great, and great His fame Who understands us whole.

The humble God exalts above; the wicked He casts down.
Sing thanks to this great God of love; let songs of praise abound.

He brings refreshing rain to earth and feeds the beasts so dear.
He puts in man’s strength naught of worth, but loves those who God fear.

T. M. Moore

Need help learning to pray the psalms? Order the book, God’s Prayer Program, and discover why and how to realize the power of the psalms to transform your prayer life (click here).

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We are happy to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in our series on the Gospel of John by clicking here. Please prayerfully consider sharing with The Fellowship of Ailbe through your giving. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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