John 15:12-17

New Catholic Bible

Love as Jesus Does^[a]

¹²“This is my commandment:
love one another
as I have loved you.
¹³No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
¹⁴You are my friends
if you do what I command you.
¹⁵“I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends
because I have revealed to you
everything that I have heard from my Father.
¹⁶“You did not choose me.
Rather, I chose you.
And I appointed you
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will remain,
so that the Father may give you
whatever you ask him in my name.
¹⁷The command I give you is this:
love one another.

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Footnotes

John 15:12 There are many reasons for people to regroup: affinity, interest, defense. But the Christian community has only one reason: Christ and his choice of us. It also has only one way of life: to love like Christ, who went so far as to give his life. To have Christ’s love is a gift. Then prayer is not a delusion; then the Christian community’s mission can bear fruit. The fruit has already been given: God’s love for us. In Christianity all is a gift.

John 15:12-17

New International Version

¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.^(A) ¹³Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.^(B) ¹⁴You are my friends^(C) if you do what I command.^(D) ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.^(E) ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you^(F) so that you might go and bear fruit^(G)—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.^(H) ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.^(I)