27th January
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love……..I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is My commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
John 15:9, 11-12
Here is a good way to start your day, by reading Jesus’ words in John 15 v 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved Me!!!” In fact so great is that news, that even Jesus Himself said that, because of that knowledge, we will be filled with great joy…. Wait there’s more; not only filled with joy, but that we will overflow with joy. That is incredible. If Jesus says that the knowledge of Him loving us will fill us with overflowing joy, then surely that is something we should be excited about. Moreover, it is most definitely something we need to keep reminding ourselves of when we walk through dark valleys in our lives, and when we feel so distant and so far from Him. We must remind ourselves that the Creator of the universe loves US.
That knowledge is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s day…Yet there is more. Our relationship status with the Creator of the universe is not just someone who is loved, but also, we are known as His friends. Verse 14 tells us this, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” Well, what does Jesus command? The answer is found in today’s key verse….“This is My commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” Our commandment is to love others with the same love we have been loved with. That means first, we must know how much God loves us, second, accept His love, third, love yourself (not in vanity but in knowing who God has made you to be) and finally, loving others with the same love God loves us with.
Finally, to top it all off, Jesus says that it is He who chose us. He loved us first. He loved us while we were still sinners. And yet He still chose to lay His life down for us. Today, know this, you are loved by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are His friend. May that knowledge fill your hearts with overflowing joy.
A Daily Devotional - The Recipe of Life 
It is difficult to deny the profound nature of God’s love. God says love each other in the same way I have loved you.But loving someone with the God’s standard is not as easy as it sounds.
I struggle to do so, though.
I think if we are honest we probably all struggle too, because God’s love is perfect. Yet that is the standard God has set for us to live too. I truly believe that the more you understand how much God loves you and the more you accept, the easier it is to love others, as you see people the way God sees them and not yourself.