Valor Fireside Chats

Love One Another as Christ has Loved You

Topic

Loving others as Christ has loved you is the greatest expression of God to the world.

How did you learn about love? Probably by watching how others treated you. Your understanding of the depth of love increased as you experienced deeper expressions of love toward you or others.

In military training, you are taught to watch out for your classmates. When you graduate you are commissioned into the service. Your whole career is to serve others. You live by motos like, “never leave a man behind.” In the same way, God wants to deepen your love for others so you can serve them.

As we grow in our understanding of how much God has loved us through Jesus, we deepen our ability to love others with the same kind of love.

Jesus Teaching

John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Love is a COMMAND. – “a new commandment”

What makes this a “new” command is not because this is the first time God has told us to love one another, but because there is a newly demonstrated way to love, “as I have loved you.” It is new because we have seen a new and deeper expression of that love. Jesus came to die for sinners; His enemies.

Jesus gives us a command. We are to love one another. How are we to know how to love one another?

Love is a PERSON. – “as I have loved you”

We know what love is by knowing Jesus. The best way to learn about love is tostudy the life of Christ. He defines love by what He says and does. What do you know about Jesus’ love for us that defines what love is?

Love is a TESTIMONY. – “By this all men will know that you are my disciples” If Jesus is love and you love others like He loves, then others will see who Jesus is through you.

How would loving like Jesus loves be a testimony to those around you? How is it different from the love that comes from man?

Here are some ways the Bible tells us to treat one another. Read these passages and plan ways to love one another.

• Romans 12:10
• Philippians 2:3
• 1 Thessalonians 5:11
• Ephesians 4:32

Outcomes

• Head – I understand that Jesus is the full expression of God’s love for me and I am to love others as I have been loved.
• Heart – I desire to grow in my understanding of Jesus’ love for me so that I can grow in my ability to love others so that they can see how much God loves them.
• Hand – This week I will make a plan to love someone as Christ has loved me.

Click here to connect to a Valor Community.
For more resources on how to integrate your military training and faith, visit…