Taking Time to Ponder

I love words.  I love everything about words (just not the bad ones).  I play Scrabble with abandon, rejoicing when I learn a new word.  One of my favorite ways of studying the Bible is to do word studies.  Currently, I am dissecting and researching the fruits of the Spirit.

Of course, the first of the fruits is LOVE.  In our culture, the word is truly misused and abused.  What many claim to be love is not what God refers to.  So, I dig.  A verse stood out to me this morning and I decided it was one that I needed to ponder.

John 14:12 (NASB) says: "This is My commandment that you love one another, just as I have loved you."  It sounds pretty straightforward and should be easy to do, right?  Wrong.  Skimming over verses that are familiar can cause me to lose the understanding and joy that comes from deeper thought.

My question to ponder:  What does it mean to "love one another" in the same way that Christ loves me?

While here on earth:

Jesus gave his life for me.  Would I do that for another?

Jesus forgave even His most vile enemies and ones who had sorely mistreated him unfairly.  Can I do that?

Jesus accepted the diseased, the lonely, the disfigured, the outcast.  Do I do that?

Jesus gave up His right to be God so He could make me right before God.  Can I do that?

The list could go on but I will stop for today.  I need to do some pondering.