John 15:9-17

Jesus loves us in the same way that the Father loved Jesus. We need to remain in Christ in order to benefit from this love. And note that it is not there to enable us to get our own way, but to enable us to fulfil the purposes of God. We stay in Christ's love by continuing to obey Him. When under pressure we may be tempted to disobey Him, to go our own way, but this is fatal. We need to continue to obey Him, then we can be sure that we will remain in Him. Then the joy of the Lord will be in us, and it is a joy that no circumstance can take away.

Now Jesus makes the command explicit, that we should love one another as He has loved us. Jesus laid down His life for us, we should be prepared to do likewise for each other. Jesus is not talking about a sentimental love, but a love that shows itself in action.

We may think that all this talk about obedience makes us no better than slaves or servants, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus calls us His friends, and He confides in us. And it is Jesus who chose us. We did not choose Him. If it had been us who took the initiative, then there would always be the risk that Jesus could reject us. In fact, He was the one who took the initiative, so we can be secure in His love. And the purpose of all this is that we will bear fruit for Him.