The Renewed Heart Loves As Christ Loved

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for January 10
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The Renewed Heart Loves As Christ Loved

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34.

Jesus says, "Love one another as I have loved you." Love is not simply
an impulse, a transitory emotion, dependent upon circumstances; it is a
living principle, a permanent power. The soul is fed by the streams of
pure love that flow from the heart of Christ, as a well-spring that
never fails. O, how is the heart quickened, how are its motives
ennobled, its affections deepened, by this communion! Under the
education and discipline of the Holy Spirit, the children of God love
one another, truly, sincerely, unaffectedly,-"without partiality, and
without hypocrisy." And this because the heart is in love with Jesus.
Our affection for one another springs from our common relation to God.
We are one family, we love one another as He loved us. When compared
with this true, sanctified, disciplined affection, the shallow courtesy
of the world, the meaningless expression of effusive friendship, are as
chaff to the wheat.

To love as Christ loved means to manifest unselfishness at all times and
in all places, by kind words and pleasant looks. . . . Genuine love is a
precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases its fragrance in
proportion as it is dispensed to others. . . 

Christ's love is deep and earnest, flowing like an irrepressible stream
to all who will accept it. There is no selfishness in His love. If this
heaven-born love is an abiding principle in the heart, it will make
itself known, not only to those we hold most dear in sacred
relationship, but to all with whom we come in contact. It will lead us
to bestow little acts of attention, to make concessions, to perform
deeds of kindness, to speak tender, true, encouraging words. It will
lead us to sympathize with those whose hearts hunger for sympathy.

>From Devotional: Our Father Cares
By Ellen G. White