The Impossible Commandment

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." - John 13:34 (ESV)

In doing my daily devotions a while back I ran across this verse. To be honest, I didn't really know what to do with it. It didn't sit well with me at all. I became very frustrated with this short verse, because frankly, I thought it was an impossible commandment to keep. Let me fill you in on the two points that I struggled with and the conclusion I was forced to come to.

First, this is a commandment. Far, far to often in our Christian lives, we read a commandment in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, and we treat it as a word of wisdom or sage advice. I'm not quite sure where the word commandment was lost in translation, but it hasn't changed in definition. It is still a command. If we agree to be followers of Jesus Christ then we are obligated to follow the commands that He gives us. Christ reminds us that if we love Him then we will follow his commandments. Because our faithfulness an obedience we show our love to him. Even though this can be very hard at times to follow, this isn't the section of the verse that I wrestled with. The latter part of the verse I couldn't understand for the longest time. Christ says to love one another: just as I have loved you. Let me repeat that: love one another: just as I have loved you. How in the world are we suppose to love one another as Christ has loved us? His love is immeasurable and divine. There is no way possible for us to ever be able to love one another in the same way Christ has loved us. It is simply: impossible.

So how are we ever to fulfill this commandment? I dwelt on this for the longest time. I couldn't understand why Christ would ever give us a commandment that we could never achieve. Then it hit me. We can't fulfill this commandment; at least not by ourselves with the love we have. We need to show Christ's love through us. That is exactly how we love one another the way Christ loves us. That is the only way we can fulfill the commandment. No way through ourselves but by Christ through us. By allowing Christ's love to show through us we actually can love one another: just as He loved us.