Loving One Another

First John simply says that we ought to love one another.  Most of us think of love as an emotion, something that one either feels or doesn't feel.  But the writer here speaks of love as a decision, a commitment that one makes, something that one decides to do.  We will be baptizing a baby next week.  These parents love these infants, not because they are so cute (although they are), but the decision to love them came long before the parents even met them.  The love of a parent is a commitment, a decision.  In this passage, we are not told to feel love, we are not told to think about love, we are simply told here to love.  I expect that Christians do not realize how odd a view of love we are supposed to embody.  Christian love is not natural.  It is not something we are born with.  It is something that comes to us through Christ, something that we are expected and commanded to show.