The night before his death, after he washed the disciples’ feet and exposed Judas as the arch-traitor, Jesus was with his closest friends. These were the men he had been training, and these men would serve as the foundation of the church, Christ’s own bride (Eph 2:20).
As Jesus informed his disciples that they would soon be separated, he gave them this command:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
Christ urged his disciples to love their fellow believers as he had loved them. That is, they were to have a disposition of love, to act in love, and to think in love toward one another. Christ loved us while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). He had a mindset of love toward us even when we were his enemies. Christ had taught the disciples to think and act in love, using his sacrificial death as the ultimate example of how this love should be expressed.
Over the next fifty years the apostles would write about loving one another, either quoting from Christ’s own words or writing from the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Below is a large selection of biblical instructions about how to love fellow believers. Consider how Scripture calls us to love others with a comprehensive love: with our hearts, thoughts, and actions. While not every instruction below contains the word “love,” each is a tangible, practical expression of love. Love is the root of all godly affection, thought, and action.
A Disposition of Love
- Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50)
- Live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16)
- Let us stop passing judgment on one another (Rom 14:13)
- So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another (Rom 14:19)
- Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you (Rom 15:7)
- Do not lie to one another… (Col 3:9)
- May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other… (1 Thess 3:12)
- For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. (1 Thess 4:9)
- Encourage one another… (Heb 3:13)
- Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in various forms (1 Pet 4:8-10)
- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7)
- Let us love one another, for loves comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7)
- Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:11-12)
Think in Love
- Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:2)
- Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph 4:32)
- Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Heb 10:24)
- Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8)
- Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged (James 5:9)
- Love one another deeply from the heart (1 Pet 1:21)
- All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5)
- And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another (2 John 5)
Act in Love
- Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves (Rom 12:10)
- Serve one another in love (Gal 5:13)
- Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2)
- Laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another (Eph 4:25)
- Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit; but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil 2:3-4)
- Speak to one another with Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs… (Eph 5:19)
- Submit to one another…. (Eph 5:21)
- Comfort one another (1 Thess 4:18)
- Encourage one another and build each other up… (1 Thess 5:11)
- Live in peace with each other (1 Thess 5:13)
- Encourage one another… (Heb 10:25)
- Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other… (1 Thess 5:15)
- Brothers, do not slander one another (James 4:11)
- Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed (James 5:16)
In heaven without our sin nature, these dispositions, actions, and thoughts of love will always be true of us. On this side of eternity, we love imperfectly, but the Spirit enables us to fulfill these commands in a real way. Praise God for the sacrifice of Christ that allows us to commune once again with God, and for the words and example of Christ that help to live for the glory of Christ and witness to the world. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples.”
