“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
John 15:12 (NLT)
In John 15:9–17, Jesus tells His disciples twice that His command is to love one another. In verse 12, He brings sharp clarity—love each other the same way I have loved you. This echoes John 13:34, but here Jesus explains what that love actually looks like in practice.
First, Jesus practices what He preaches. In verse 9, He tells them that He loved them the same way the Father loved Him, and then He invites them to remain in His love. Jesus is simply modeling what was done for Him. He never asks us to do something He Himself was unwilling to do. He received love, lived in it, and then passed it on.
Next, Jesus reveals that obedience and love are meant to lead to joy. Verse 11 says He gave them this command so they would be filled with joy—His joy—and that their joy would overflow. Jesus had experienced this joy Himself, and He was not selfish with it. He showed His disciples how to receive what He had already been living in.
Then Jesus calls them friends. Though He had every right to call them servants, He chose relationship instead. And He didn’t hold anything back. He told them everything the Father had told Him. That goes beyond friendship. That sounds like family. He trusted them with His heart and the Father’s words.
So today, don’t rush past this command. Stay with it. Ask the Lord to show you where He’s inviting you to love the way you’ve been loved—to remain, to give, to obey, and to trust Him with the outcome. Jesus isn’t asking you to do something that will cost you joy. He’s inviting you into the very joy He lives in. Lord, help us remain in Your love, and let that love flow through us to others.