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

Jesus -John 13:34-35

The way Jesus will run the world is through people who have allowed Him to wash their feet. People who had laid down next to his chest and heard his heart beat. People who have stood underneath the horrific site of the cross and yet received the word of forgiveness and grace. People who have allowed the blood of Christ’s forgiveness and grace to cast out the spirit of accusation that is swirling all around them. People who are being healed through that process and are now able to begin to love and advocate for their neighbor and their enemy. We can only love because He first loved us. We can only wash others feet because He first washed our feet. We can only fulfill His new command as we sit at the foot of the cross and stay there for more than just a while.

The beloved disciple seems to have reiterate Jesus when he tells us in his letter, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

God’s love is prior. God’s love is primary. God’s love is the fuel that keeps are love going. That is why one of the values of Mission City Church is LIVE LOVED.

Only as we internalize the extent that God loves us in Christ on the cross can we even begin to spontaneously love others that way and thus fulfill Christ’s command. He loves you dearly. Yes, you! Never forget it.

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