From the moment we begin to grasp just how much God loves us, a deep desire wells up within us to love Him in return.

" We love HIm because He first loved us" ( 1 John 4:19)

I've had many false images myself-- at different times a "higher power" or a stem judge to be feared. But once I saw His unconditional love for me, a love unaffected by who i was and all i had done, my heart was able to say, "Father, I love you." Amazingly, God not only loves us- He actually created us so we can love Him in return.

Jesus' command to love one another appeared in the new testament which is directly connected to the "ten commandments" handed down by God to the Israelites through Moses as written in  the old testament.

While Jesus called Loving One Another as a new commandment, it is not exactly new but a mere rehash of the original 10 commandments.  The ten commandments were a series of don'ts, things that should not be done which was later translated or summarized by Jesus through his commandment of loving one another.  The old testament spoke of eye for an eye and toooth for a tooth, but Jesus spoke of offering the other cheek if the other side is hurt.  Walking an extra mile for someone.  He showed humility as the first step to abide by God's command to love one another as He loved us.  He showed His love for mankind by giving up His life for our salvation.  On our part, he is not even asking us to give up our life but we are asked to give love.