A Love That Lasts

We are in a loneliness epidemic.

So what do we do?

The tone of chapters 13-17, filled with discourse, is shepherding.

A Jewish teacher often called his disciples “little children,” but this is the first time Jesus does this in our recorded account from John.

John 13:34

The command to love isn't new.

Matthew 22:37-39

So, what makes it a new commandment? The measure with which we are to love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, you also are to love one another.

It's no longer “ love as I love myself." The standard now is the love of Jesus. If the goal is to love like Christ... how does that differ from the counterfeit love we often experience?

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Counterfeit Love vs. Christlike Love

1. Counterfeit Love is selfish. Christlike Love is selfless.

• Matthew 20:26–27
• Selfish love isn't even love.
• Love is focused on the object of affection.
• Christ GAVE Himself.
• Is your love for others, at the root, about you? It's about your motive.

2. Counterfeit Love is transactional. Christlike Love is unilateral.

• Romans 5:6–8
• When we were DEAD in our sins... Christ died for us. We had exactly ZERO to offer when Christ unilaterally offered everything to us.
• Christlike doesn't keep score.
• 1 John 4:19

3. Counterfeit Love expects. Christlike Love initiates.

• We, as believers, have a responsibility to initiate and foster community in our own lives.
• People feel frustrated when they cannot find “community.” What they are really looking for is versions of themselves in others.
• Biblical community is not about finding people your age, same stage of life, and same political party.
• "Biblical community is about finding people that love God, loving them, while we then learn to love God better."

4. Counterfeit Love is guarded. Christlike Love is open.

• Philippians 2:7–8
• The text says Jesus EMPTIED himself being born in the likeness of man.
• “Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome." - Brene Brown
• In a culture then and a culture now that says “protect at all costs," Jesus opens himself up to humanity.
• To never be truly seen is to never be truly known or loved.
• The revealing of yourself can be painful. But the realization that you are seen is so comforting.

5. Counterfeit Love coddles. Christlike Love confronts.

• Ephesians 4:14–16
• What a misconception in our culture today—that love cannot disagree. That confrontation and correction must be unloving.
• In my life, some of the most loving things people have done for me involved confronting my sin.
• Galatians 6:1–2
• Searching for people that exclusively agree with you is not searching for a Christlike community.
• If nobody in your life is willing to confront your seen or unseen sins, you are susceptible to attack from the enemy.

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Counterfeit love is built for show. Christlike love is a love that lasts.

Jesus created a group identified by one thing: love.

The way that God loves will never let you down.

John 13:35