A New Commandment?

I read, this morning, Jesus' words from John 13:35-35. "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another." That is not a new commandment. In Leviticus 19, Israel was told to love their neighbor as themselves, but to be fair, it was in a passage mostly talking about what not to do and that verse starts with "don't hold a grudge," but instead, love each other.

Much of the "law" is corrective in focus, in that bad behaviors were already happening when it was written. What God intended from day one was love, which, when practiced fully, prevents all of the behaviors that the law sets out to correct.

Much of what Jesus taught was "do" rather than "don't." Matthew 5 is a passage of positive behaviors or attitudes we should emulate to keep from the "don'ts;" ways we should live that practice love.

I think Jesus saw that the "law" became a thing unto itself and was now the idol it set out to destroy. Love is the only thing that will break the barriers the law builds. Love is the only thing that will unite us rather than divide us.

How can you show love today in a way that dissolves the distance between those separated from God or yourself?