In Courtney Anderson’s wonderful book, To the Golden Shore, we read about Adoniram Judson. When Adoniram Judson served as our first American missionary to Burma, he encounter men and women entrapped in the Buddhist religion serving a God that had no personality. All there was, according to them, was a personless force. This force could not talk, think, or act. But the Scriptures tell us that God is a Person who is active and involved in the lives of His people. He us the Unmoved Mover, the Uncaused Causer of all things. And this Person, God Almighty, who is behind all that is, is a holy God of love. It was an important concept for Judson to establish. It was also an important theme in the writings of the apostle John.

So deeply was thus commandment engraved on the heart of this evangelist that St. Jerome says, that in his extreme old age, when he used to be carried to the public assemblies of the believers, his constant saying was, Little children, love one another. His disciples, wearied at last with the constant repetition of the same words, asked him, Why he constantly said the same thing? “Because (said he) it is the commandment of the Lord, and the observation of it alone is sufficient.” [Adam Clarke. Commentary on St. John.]

Jesus tells us to love as He has loved the Father and the Father has loved Him. This love is no regular, earthly love — it is a supernatural love that has been “poured into our hearts.” It is an unbroken chain. In Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses gives God’s command: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

May God establish this truth of love in the hearts of all believers.