Loving One Another As He Has Loved Us

God calls all who are His to respond to His love for us, by loving one another as He loved us, thereby pointing each other and our world to Him.   Matthew 22:34-40 ESV But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"  And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.   Matthew 7:12 ESV "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."   How has God loved us? 1. God chose to love us.     So we choose to love one another. 2. God gave Himself away for us.     So we give ourselves away to meet each other's needs.     So we selflessly extend mercy & grace to one another.     So we celebrate God's work in each other's lives.   We love God and others all and only because God first loved us.  The more we understand and experience God's love for us, the more compelled we will be to love others in a way that points back to Him.  So, instead of focusing on loving others better, I encourage you to focus on God's love for you in Christ.   If and when you find yourself struggling to love a brother or sister in Christ, lift your eyes to heaven and celebrate how God chose to love you, at immense cost to Himself.  As you do, ask Him to help you love Him in return by loving that person in a way that reflects His love for you.