“A new command I give you: Love one another.” (John 13:34)
“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…” (Ephesians 3:17-18)
“this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Philippians 1:9)
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
Many of us will be familiar with the ‘WWJD’ bracelets that used to be very popular. Perhaps some of us still even have them and wear them from time to time. Even better…maybe it’s become a part of our spiritual DNA and we don’t need to actually wear a physical bracelet to remember it? The idea, of course, was that before we ever open our mouths, before we act, in any given situation, we should pause to figure out: ‘WWJD – What Would Jesus Do?’ In the light of these Bible references, I’m not sure what the first generation of believers would have thought of such bracelets. Perhaps, aware of Jesus’ words as recorded in John’s Gospel and Paul’s recurrent prayer for the churches, they might have suggested a deeper, more foundational and fundamental maxim, something more intense and more challenging: ‘WWSGL – What Would Show God’s Love?’