John 15:12

12 This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:12 Meaning and Commentary

John 15:12

This is my commandment, that ye love one another
Christ had been before speaking of his commandments; and he mentions this as the principal one, and to which all the rest may be reduced; for as the precepts of the second table of the moral law may be briefly comprehended in this one duty, love to our neighbour, so all the duties of Christianity, relative to one another, are reducible to this, by love to serve each other. This was the commandment which lay uppermost on Christ's heart, and which he knew, if attended to, the rest could not fail of being observed. The argument by which, and the manner in which, he presses it, is as before:

as I have loved you;
than which nothing can be more strong and forcible; see ( John 13:34 ) .

John 15:12 In-Context

10 If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love.

11 "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect.

12 This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you.

13 No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends.

14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you.