Conclusion of The Importance of Love

So, then, we do not fulfill the law of the Christ simply by teaching others about him. We must also live and behave as Jesus did. True, Jesus used beautiful well-chosen words in his discourses. Yet, he also taught by example. Even though Jesus had been a mighty spirit creature in heaven, he seized the opportunity  to serve his Father's interests on earth and to show how we should  live. He was humble, kind, and considerate, helping those burdened down and oppressed. (Matthew 11:28-30' 20:28; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 John 3:8) And Jesus urged his followers to love one another, just as he loved them. 

What place does love for Jehovah-the Law's greatest commandment-have in the law of the Christ?  (Matthew 22:37, 38; Galatians 6:2) Second place? By no means!  Love for Jehovah and love for our fellow Christians are inextricably linked. One cannot truly love Jehovah without also loving his brother, for the apostle John noted:  "If anyone makes the statement:  'I love God,' and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar.  For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen." -1 John 4:20; compare 1 John 3:17, 18. 

When Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment to love one another just as he loved them, he described the effect this would have.  "By this all will know that you are my disciples," he said: "If you have love among yourselves." (John 13:35)  According to  Tertullian, who lived more than  a  hundred years before Jesus' death, the brother love of early Christians had that very effect.  Tertullian quoted non-Christians as saying of Christ's followers: 'See how they love one another and how they are even ready to die for one another.' We might ask ourselves, 'Do I show such love for fellow Christians that it proves I am one of Jesus' disciples?'

Next time: How We Prove Our Love

From the Watchtower magazine, 1999