Love God, Love People

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

-John 13:34-35

Not by our church attendance.

Not by how high our hands are lifted.

Not by that heartfelt Facebook post.

But by how we love.

So I’m a "wordy" girl, and my favorite word in the above set of Scriptures is “if.” Because “if” denotes a choice.

Are you going to love one another? Or are you not? A choice.

People see your car parked outside the church. They have a front row view to the highlights reel you share on social media. But do they know you have Jesus in your heart? Can they see Him alive in you?

This may be a tough pill to swallow, but there is only one right answer here, friends.

Let’s back up a little.

1 Corinthians 6:11 says that we have been sanctified. Let’s dive back into that word.

Sanctified: to be set apart for a sacred purpose.

Y’all, we have been set apart for a purpose.

THE God set us apart for HIS purpose. Why are we sitting on that? Why are we sitting at all?

1 Corinthians 15:58 says we should be always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Ephesians 2:10 says we are to walk in the good works God has prepared for us.

Matthew 25:40 says however we treat people, we are treating Jesus.

And John, 13:34 says to love people.

1 Peter 4:8 says to love people.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8, Proverbs 3:27, Zechariah 7:9, Luke 3:11, Luke 6:35, John 15:12, Romans 12:10, Galatians 6:2, Philippians 2:3-4, Hebrews 13:16 all tell us to love people.

I read something cool the other day. Like, literally as soon as I walked out of the sermon I’m writing about now. It was shared by a musical artist I follow, KB. He was speaking of Luke 6:32 (“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?”) He said, “If you say you love your neighbor while really just loving the people that look like you, live like you, and think like you, it’s not your neighbor that you are loving—it’s yourself.”

Mic. Drop.

Jesus didn’t say love yourself. He didn’t say love them for who they could be, who you want them to be, who you think they should be. He said to love them, exactly as they are, just as He loves us. Exactly as we are.

Now I’m not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be. I’ve got scars and sins and I mess up daily. I’ve turned around. I’ve sat down. And Jesus loved me through it all. Guided me, corrected me, redirected me, but loved me just the same.

They say you become who you hang out with. . .

And my bff Jesus calls me His co-heir, part of a royal priesthood. (Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 2:5)

I wanna be like that guy, y’all!

I want people to look at me and be like, “Yep, she loves Jesus.”

Better still, I want them to look at me and say “Wow, she loves me.”

I want them to look at me and see Him. (John 3:30)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37)

But . . . hold up. The Pharisees didn’t ask what the two greatest commandments were. They asked what the single greatest was. So why did Jesus answer as He did?

The reason? The first (love God with all you’ve got) isn’t possible without the second (love God’s people). Similarly, the second can’t stand without the first.

Wholehearted devotion to and a right relationship with God is the start of everything. Our relationship with God determines literally everything else in our lives from our view of ourselves to our view of others, how we live and how we love.

To put it simply: “Love God, Love People.”