John 15: 9-11

The centerpiece of the moral teaching of Jesus is love. “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.”

Unfortunately, this had not been rightly understood and out into practice as evident even among Christians themselves. There’s an interesting note from a magazine which says, “ About 2,00 years ago, they asked this Guy what he felt was his most important message. He said: “Love one another as I love you.” Out of his message evolved some 22,000 distinct religious denominations – and they all hate each other. Well, maybe not ‘hate’ but ‘indifferent.’

Though Jesus did not make a treatise on the kind of love he was talking about, he did indicate some of the qualities it should possess.

One distinctive quality of Christian love is the ability to sacrifice or get hurt for the other. The early Christians did not miss the lesson. “The way we came to understand love was that he laid down his life for us; we too must lay down our lives for our brothers.”

But dramatic moments like ‘laying down one’s life for another’ do not come often in life. Far more frequent are the day-to-day demands of love like being kind when you’re feeling irritable or sharing one’s time, effort, even money for one who’s in need.

The second characteristic of Christian love is universal, all embracing. Although Jesus’ love went out to some close favorites like the family of Lazarus, his love extended to all: the poor, the sick, the marginalized in society.

A constant temptation for the Christian is to draw lines in the practice of love: racial lines, religious lines, personality lines. Of the latter, we tend to love those who’re naturally lovable and attractive.

Finally, Christina love is characterized by concrete acts of service. Someone once said, “They do not love those that do not show their love.” Love must prove itself in the ordinary relationship of daily life: in the family, at work, in school, in the neighborhood.