Limitless Word
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
  • KJV This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
  • NKJV This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
  • NASB “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
  • NLT This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus commands the disciples to love one another as He has loved them. Self-giving love is the hallmark of His followers.

Overview

This restates the new commandment with Christ's own love as the standard and pattern. The measure of love is not human sentiment but the sacrificial love of Jesus, soon to be displayed at the cross. Such love among believers is both the fruit of abiding in Him and the visible mark of true discipleship.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • 1 Jn 4:21And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.
  • 1 Pet 4:8Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
  • John 13:34A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
  • Eph 5:2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
  • Rom 12:10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
  • 1 Jn 3:23And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.
  • 1 Pet 3:8Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.
  • 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
  • 1 Th 4:9Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
  • 1 Th 3:12And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows,
  • 1 Jn 3:11–18This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
  • 2 Th 1:3We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.
  • 1 Jn 2:7–10Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 15:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 15:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.