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John 15:17

King James Version (KJV)
Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Saviour should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to show it. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, but the joy of those who abide in Christ's love is a continual feast. They are to show their love to him by keeping his commandments. If the same power that first shed abroad the love of Christ's in our hearts, did not keep us in that love, we should not long abide in it. Christ's love to us should direct us to love each other. He speaks as about to give many things in charge, yet names this only; it includes many duties.
Ellen G. White
That I May Know Him, 173.5

We believe in Jesus Christ. We unite our souls to Christ. He says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit.... These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:16, 17).22 TMK 173.5

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, 285

James 4:4: “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 1T 285.1

James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” 1T 285.2

Titus 2:12: “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” 1T 285.3

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Ellen G. White
Christ's Object Lessons, 382

The priest and the Levite had been for worship to the temple whose service was appointed by God Himself. To participate in that service was a great and exalted privilege, and the priest and Levite felt that having been thus honored, it was beneath them to minister to an unknown sufferer by the wayside. Thus they neglected the special opportunity which God had offered them as His agents to bless a fellow being. COL 382.1

Many today are making a similar mistake. They separate their duties into two distinct classes. The one class is made up of great things, to be regulated by the law of God; the other class is made up of so-called little things, in which the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” is ignored. This sphere of work is left to caprice, subject to inclination or impulse. Thus the character is marred, and the religion of Christ misrepresented. COL 382.2

There are those who would think it lowering to their dignity to minister to suffering humanity. Many look with indifference and contempt upon those who have laid the temple of the soul in ruins. Others neglect the poor from a different motive. They are working, as they believe, in the cause of Christ, seeking to build up some worthy enterprise. They feel that they are doing a great work, and they cannot stop to notice the wants of the needy and distressed. In advancing their supposedly great work they may even oppress the poor. They may place them in hard and trying circumstances, deprive them of their rights, or neglect their needs. Yet they feel that all this is justifiable because they are, as they think, advancing the cause of Christ. COL 382.3

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 504

The lawyer's question to Jesus had been, “What shall I do?” And Jesus, recognizing love to God and man as the sum of righteousness, had said, “This do, and thou shalt live.” The Samaritan had obeyed the dictates of a kind and loving heart, and in this had proved himself a doer of the law. Christ bade the lawyer, “Go, and do thou likewise.” Doing, and not saying merely, is expected of the children of God. “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. DA 504.1

The lesson is no less needed in the world today than when it fell from the lips of Jesus. Selfishness and cold formality have well-nigh extinguished the fire of love, and dispelled the graces that should make fragrant the character. Many who profess His name have lost sight of the fact that Christians are to represent Christ. Unless there is practical self-sacrifice for the good of others, in the family circle, in the neighborhood, in the church, and wherever we may be, then whatever our profession, we are not Christians. DA 504.2

Christ has linked His interest with that of humanity, and He asks us to become one with Him for the saving of humanity. “Freely ye have received,” He says, “freely give.” Matthew 10:8. Sin is the greatest of all evils, and it is ours to pity and help the sinner. There are many who err, and who feel their shame and their folly. They are hungry for words of encouragement. They look upon their mistakes and errors, until they are driven almost to desperation. These souls we are not to neglect. If we are Christians, we shall not pass by on the other side, keeping as far as possible from the very ones who most need our help. When we see human beings in distress, whether through affliction or through sin, we shall never say, This does not concern me. DA 504.3

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Ellen G. White
This Day With God, 365.3

When enshrouded in the cloudy pillar He spake to the children of Israel through Moses: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:17, 18). “These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:17). TDG 365.3

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Ellen G. White
The Upward Look, 31.1

These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15:17. UL 31.1

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