Day 32: Jesus, Our Community Leader
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
I love singing and one of my favorite places to sing is in a choir. Early on, I discovered that unless I chose singing over writing, I would not excel in it enough to be a solo artist. To be a soloist in both, one must commit to the rigors of training to stand out from the group when called upon to sing with one voice. Yet, even with solos, there is often an element of community. Whether it is the solo singer within the community of choir, whether it is a solo writer within the community of readers, or whether it is a solo believer within the community of church, all soloists need community to be their best.
One of the elements of community is love. Jesus talks about this love in John 13:34-35 when he says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What makes the church its most powerful is when we love one another as we work, grow and serve in community. When we love one another, we are showing that we belong to Jesus, Our Community Leader.
Love does not require rigorous training like a career in singing or writing but a few things love does require is commitment, humility and obedience. We commit to be disciples of Christ who are humble enough to know that the only way we succeed is in obedience to Christ. And, to bring it full circle, we are obedient when we love one another.
It really is a circle. Three of the ways we love is through commitment, humility and obedience; and, obedience requires us to love one another. This is how we build community so that all of the times when we are called to be soloists, we never have to do it alone.
Today, as you reflect, where have you been called to be a soloist? How can you surround yourself in community so that your solo is able to be its best? How are you being called to community through love, commitment, humility and obedience through Christ Jesus, Our Community Leader?
