How We Should Love
Tuesday’s Verse:
From John 15:12-13 ESV
(Jesus said) “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
A new year can feel like a fresh page. We make plans. We promise to do better. We tell ourselves that this year we’ll be more patient, more kind, more loving. But then, before we know it, the old habits come rushing back. We get tired. We harden our hearts. We love when it’s easy and pull away when it costs too much.
Jesus’ words expose the struggle in our hearts. “Love one another as I have loved you.” That is not a small request. His love is not guarded or stingy. It is self-giving, costly, and full. When we hear this command honestly, we realize how short we fall of it. Our love has conditions. His does not.
Then Jesus takes it further. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” He is not pointing us to an abstract ideal. He is looking ahead to the cross. This is how He loves. He will not wait for us to get it right or to prove ourselves. He will give His life while we are still weak and broken.
That is where the new year truly starts. Not with our good intentions, but with His mercy. We are loved first. Forgiven first. Claimed first. From that place, love becomes something we receive before it becomes something we give.
As we step into a new year, we learn to love by remaining close to Christ. His love both steadies us when we stumble and sets us free to love others without fear. We will not love perfectly. But we are held by the One who already has.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us with a love that gives itself completely. As we enter this new year, teach us to live from Your forgiveness and to reflect Your love to those around us. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above was created by ChatGPT.