The commands to love God and to love our neighbor are different from the command given in the New Commandment. It is distinguished by the way Jesus tells us to love. The law tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, in this passage we are told to love one another as He loved. That’s a huge difference. Jesus’ love is unselfish, forgiving, empathetic and impartial. It is also uncommon so when we love the way He loves, people notice.
Learning to love like Jesus is a process that takes time to develop and it can only happen when God works in our hearts as we surrender more and more of our lives to Him. John the Baptist, talking about his relationship with Jesus, said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” As we progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Jesus Christ, His ways will become our ways.