The New Commandment 

Call To Prayer 

Title: The New Commandment 

Date: 31/10/2022 

By: Njuacha Hubert 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34 

In Mathew 22:34-40, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees what the greatest commandment was. And He replied by saying that it is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Also, He said the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbour as yourself. And He said all the laws and prophets hang on these two commandments. In order words, He was saying these two commandments are a summary of the 10 commandments. Take note that a summary does not mean something new or additional.  

This concept of loving your neighbor as yourself is not unique to Christianity but is shared among the major religions of the world such as Islam or Hinduism. It is referred to as the golden rule. Even just ethical traditional societies have this guiding rule.  

Now let’s see John 13:33-35:  

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 

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

From the above, we see that Jesus gave a commandment, and He called it new. I believe we all know the meaning of new. It means it didn’t exist before. Jesus’s new commandment is that we love one another, as He has loved us. It is not the same as loving one another as you love yourself which was the old covenant. In the new covenant, we are taking it a step further, we are called to love others as Jesus has loved us. How did Jesus love us? He died on the cross for us. It means you might not even do something for yourself but that does not stop you from doing it for another person as an act of love because Jesus said love as I love you and proved it. The new commandment of Jesus comes with an empowerment clause. It is this part “As I have loved you”. It means we ought to contemplate and acknowledge how much Christ loves us for us to be able to keep His new commandment, the new covenant commandment. The more you understand how much Jesus loves you, the more you can love (other factors constant).  

Prayer Point:  

Let’s thank God for the love He showed on that cross of calvary, paying the prize for our sins, and purchasing abundant life for us. Let’s pray for the grace to understand the magnitude of what we have received in Christ so that loving others will become a natural response.  

To partner with this ministry, you can give using this PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walelasisi