The New Commandment: Self-Giving Love
Daily Scripture
John 13:34-35
34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Jürgen Klopp: “The most difficult opponent in football is football itself.”
Jürgen Klopp, a top coach, said soccer’s rules make the game a worthy challenge. Playing soccer by basketball rules might seem easier, but it wouldn’t be soccer. Jesus gave the commandment we read today at the Last Supper, just hours before his arrest. Of all the final words he could have chosen, he chose love. As Bishop Michael Curry noted, this “was not long before Jesus’ death, when he would show what love looks like; giving of the self, even sacrificing the self for the good and well-being of others.” *
- Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.” Like the moon reflecting the sun’s light, our love for others needs to reflect how God loves us. Jesus lived and taught a tough, self-giving love—the Greek word agape, grounded in God’s character, not ours. In what practical ways do you live out your commitment to love God and others? Can you embrace self-giving—rather than self-gratification—as key to the love that makes life truly worth living?
- Jesus’ teaching shaped John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, who asked: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without doubt, we may.” ** This kind of love is costly—as scholar Leon Morris noted, God “doesn’t regard sinners with aversion’ but with “the costly love we see in the cross where Jesus died to save them.” *** Who might you be called to “love alike,” even if you can’t “think alike”? What would it look like to offer Jesus’ costly love to someone you disagree with deeply?
Prayer
O Lord, help me love not as an outward disguise hiding my anger or pain, but from my heart as your love overflows and bubbles out to bless others. Amen.
GPS Insights
Tes Walker
Tes Walker, who is a summer intern in Adult Discipleship at Resurrection Leawood, wrote today's Insights. She has been a member of Resurrection since 2011, and worked as a nursery associate and ELC teacher at Resurrection Lees Summit before this internship. She is going into her freshman year of college at Metropolitan Community College, and then will transfer to Kansas State University to study business and finance. Tes enjoys being outdoors, connecting with others, and deepening her faith through serving in the community. She says, "I am excited to grow in the church this summer!"
The simplest of commandments.
“Love each other”
In John 13:34-35, Jesus gives a command that sounds simple: love one another as He has loved us. Yet, like Jürgen Klopp’s observation that soccer is challenging because of its own rules, the difficulty of following Jesus comes from actually living by His standard of love.
Jesus wasn’t just talking about loving people when it’s easy or when we agree with them. Just hours before His arrest, He pointed to a self-giving, sacrificial love that puts others before ourselves. I think Christians often struggle with this because judgment, social pressures, status, and disconnects can create distance between people, making Christlike love harder to practice.
As easy as it sounds, most of you may agree with me when I say that our current society could be doing a better job at this one. God’s love is so clear and abundant, so why does obeying this command seem so complex and difficult?
Jesus said people would recognize His disciples by their love. Today, we as Christians are not always known for patience, inclusivity, or grace, yet these are the very qualities that should reflect Christ to the world. John Wesley’s question, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” challenged me to consider how I treat people I disagree with. This passage reminds me that being a disciple is not just about believing the right things, but about showing God’s costly and unconditional love to others, even when it requires sacrifice.
As I reflect on this passage, I realize that loving others like Jesus is not something I can do perfectly on my own. It requires humility, grace, and a willingness to put aside my own preferences and judgments. I want to grow in showing patience to people who think differently than I do and in making others feel seen and valued. If Christ’s love is meant to overflow through His followers, then my life should reflect that love in both my words and actions so that others can see Him through me.
As you go forth throughout your life, I encourage you to reflect on how you are recognized as a follower of God.
Do others know you as a loving and patient disciple?
How have you used Gods light to close the gap between status and opinion with those around you?
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Curry, Bishop Michael. The Power of Love (p. 19). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
** To read Wesley’s sermon “A Catholic Spirit”, edited into modern English, click here.
*** Leon Morris, article “Love” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992, p. 494.
