Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: 💛 Love One Another - A Commandment That Crosses Every Border

 

In John 13:34, Jesus offers a commandment that is both startlingly simple and endlessly demanding:

“I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.”

It’s not a suggestion. It’s not a seasonal virtue. It’s a command — and it’s the one Jesus chose to give at the Last Supper, just hours before betrayal and crucifixion. That timing matters. It tells us that love isn’t just a comfort; it’s a calling.

🌍 Love as a Bridge Across Faiths

For Christians, this commandment is central. But its spirit is not exclusive.

• Judaism teaches: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).
• Islam teaches: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
• Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and many Indigenous traditions all elevate compassion, service, and mutual care.

So when Christians live out this commandment — not just toward fellow believers, but toward all people — they’re stepping into a sacred space that many traditions recognize.

🤝 What Interfaith Love Looks Like

Loving one another in an interfaith context doesn’t mean erasing differences. It means:

• Listening deeply without rushing to correct
• Serving together in food banks, shelters, and peacebuilding efforts
• Showing up for one another’s joys and sorrows
• Defending dignity when someone’s faith is misunderstood or maligned
• Praying with integrity — not to convert, but to bless

It’s not always easy. But it’s always possible.

🕊️ Why This Commandment Still Matters

In a world that often rewards division, the command to love one another is a quiet act of resistance.

It reminds us that:

• Love is not tribal
• Compassion is not conditional
• Unity is not uniformity
• And holiness is not limited to one tradition

When Christians take this command seriously — especially in interfaith spaces — they become living proof of what Jesus said next:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

🌟 A Closing Thought

To love one another is to choose relationship over rivalry, presence over performance, and humility over certainty.

It’s not just a Christian virtue.
It’s a human one.
And it’s the beginning of peace.

a post inspired by An Afternoon's Dictation by Steven Greenebaum

• Book Description: 

  In 1999 Steven Greenebaum felt he'd hit the wall. Fifty years old, he could not make sense of his life or the world around him. For several months he angrily demanded answers from God, if God were there. One afternoon, an inner voice told him to get a pen and paper and write. Steven then took dictation - three pages, not of commandments but guidance for leading a meaningful life.
   
  An Afternoon's Dictation grapples with, organizes, and deeply explores the revelations Steven received and then studied for over ten years. His sharing is NOT offered as the only possible way to understand it the dictation. It is offered, rather, as a start. The book's sections include deep explorations into "The Call to Interfaith," "The Call to Love One Another," "The Call to Justice," and "The Call to Community." These explorations
  are rooted in a crucial part of the dictation that directs us to "Seek truth in the commonality of religions - which are but the languages of speaking to Me."
   
  Thus, An Afternoon's Dictation builds on what unites our diverse spiritual traditions, not what divides us. It shows us a path to respecting our differences while embracing unity of the great callings of our spiritual traditions. An Afternoon's Dictation provides caring guidance forward in these hugely challenging times - if we are open to it.

  Keywords:
  Interfaith, Spiritual Guidance, Divine Wisdom, Spiritual Journey, Religious Unity, Sacred Writing, Faith Exploration, Spiritual Awakening, Meaningful Life, Spiritual Unity, Divine Purpose, Spiritual Revelation, Faith and Purpose, Interfaith Harmony, Life Guidance, Sacred Wisdom, Spiritual Insight, Religious Commonality, Spiritual Seeker, Divine Message, Ecumenism

  Book Review: 5 stars from Literary Titan
  

  "An Afternoon's Dictation: Inclusive Revelation for the 21st Century offers a compelling and transformative narrative that propels us to interrogate our preconceptions about spirituality and espouse inclusivity as a route to mutual understanding. Greenebaum's passion for the subject matter radiates through each chapter, and his appeal for open-mindedness and discourse is both timely and pressing in our interconnected global ecosystem. A must-read, this book will undoubtedly appeal to those yearning to expand their spiritual landscape and nurture a more encompassing perspective on life. ... This thoughtfully constructed work masterfully intertwines the author's personal encounters, philosophical observations, and historical allusions to offer an innovative approach to spirituality that is exceedingly pertinent to the contemporary global scenario."
  

  Awards this book has earned

  Winner. London Book Festival

  Literary Titan gold award
  Indies Today runner-up
  Firebird Book Awards honorable mention
  Pacific Book Award finalist (runner-up)

  The BookFest honorable mention

  Chanticleer International Book Awards finalist
  American Legacy Book Awards finalist

  Pinnacle Book Achievement Award

  
  

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  Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.

  
  

  
  

  

  
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  Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

     

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