My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other.
There’s a buzzword used today to describe what takes place when a person adjusts the thought patterns that have become ingrained into his or her emotional makeup. It’s called: “attitudinal change.” It’s a fancy way to say that new behaviors start with new mind-sets. The pathway to personal transformation requires a change in perspective.
Anchored In Hope
Learning to love those whom we expect to love us is a risky business sometimes. Some individuals simply are not equipped to love self-sacrificially by way of past (or present) trauma in their own lives or (more painfully) simply because they choose not to do so. Accepting the hard truth that one’s family may be among those who cannot or will not offer loving support is especially painful as many individuals may discover over and over again.
God’s Love Never Disappoints
This isn’t an easy path to accept. And never an easy one. Never. Still, what we may lack in familial support, God can make up in abundance through friends. As we choose to obey God’s command to love others and consistently live in such a selfless way that we put other’s needs before our own, God will make up the difference in what our family may fail to offer by way of love. As we change our perspective about our family of origin and it can set us free.
Letting Go Of Expectations
We can all grow freer from the inside out as we let go of our expectations and allow God to love us. As we revisit this passage of Scripture found in John 15 and we can find it comforting to know that Jesus is not only our Savior, but he calls us his friend.
Take-away Action Thought
When my expectations are dashed and my feelings are hurt because someone I love doesn’t demonstrate love toward me, I will go to prayer and tell Jesus all about how I’m feeling. I will then meditate on John 15 and give thanks that Jesus calls me his friend.
My Heart’s Cry to You, O Lord
Father, I am feeling so hurt and disappointed. I should know better by now than to expect my family to support me but some hope never dies. It will probably always be a longing in my heart to be close to them even if they don’t feel the same way. Please remind me to run to you when I feel this way and to not allow anger or resentment to take root in my heart. I know that you command me to love others and I want to obey you in this but I need your strength and grace to do it. Please pour your abundant grace into my heart so that my desire is to love unconditionally. Amen.
Practicing Grace and Gratitude
- Grace and gratitude from God – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Day by day, I will be mindful of loving others unconditionally and not allow their behavior toward me to dictate how I treat them. I will remind myself that God expects my obedience and by his grace that is how I am going to govern my thoughts and my actions even when I am disappointed or hurt.
- Grace and gratitude in me – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Each evening this week, I’ll spend time praying specifically for my family and friends by name. I’ll also give thanks for each of these individuals even if (especially if) I have an uneasy relationship with them.
- Grace and gratitude in life – You are my friends if you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other. This week I will prayerfully reflect on any past hurts I may be clinging to that hinders me from loving others unconditionally. I’ll confess these unloving thoughts and attitudes and look for ways to demonstrate my love and care for each person.
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