John 15:12-22

12 This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.
13 This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends.
14 You are my friends when you do the things I command you.
15 I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
16 "You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17 "But remember the root command: Love one another.
18 "If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me.
19 If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.
20 "When that happens, remember this: Servants don't get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
21 "They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don't know the One who sent me.
22 If I hadn't come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn't be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse.

Images for John 15:12-22

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.