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May 22, 2024 06:00am

Love Like Jesus

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I’m reading a book (well, I’m actually listening to it as I travel) about two families caught up in the tragedy of World War 2. One is a family trying to help their son who fought in the war and the other is a Jewish family who lived in Germany at the time.

After escaping Germany, the family found safety for a time in a neighboring city. But soon, the Nazis invaded there too and they had to go into hiding once again. The story centers on one of the daughters who attends nursing school. As the war continues and persecution escalates, she must find a place for her younger sister to hide. Her boyfriend tells her he has heard that some of the Christians are helping to hide Jews and encourages her to ask the nun she has come to trust at her school.

The nun’s response is “yes”. It was quick, no questions, just yes. Even though it could mean death if they were caught. Through tears, she asks, “Why would help us”? The sister explained, “Do you see that man on the cross there? That’s Jesus. He was also a Jew. And He was hated and killed for it too. He told us to love others as He did. We will help you.”

Christians known for their love. Could this be true? Could we be known as Jesus’ followers because of the love we show?

John 13:34-35
“34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In order to show or give the love Christ talked about, we must first know that kind of love.

1 John 4:7-8
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

How do you become a child of God? How can you experience that kind of love?

Romans 10:9-10
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

If we possess the love of God, then we can, and should, profess the love of God. Not just in word but in our actions.

As we look back at our text for today in John 13, Jesus said we are to love others as He did and then they will know we are His disciples, or followers.

What did that love look like? How did Jesus love people?

– forgiving
– faithful to His Word to them
– saw past their outward appearance
– truthful, honest with them
– upheld Gods Word
– spent time with them
– served them
– prayed for them
– provided for their greatest need
– sacrificed His life

Do our lives reflect this kind of love? Why is it important if someone knows we are a follower of Christ?

Because, don’t you want them to follow Him too? Why would they choose to follow Him if they don’t see Him in you?

The world, and the evil therein, wants to confuse what the word LOVE really means. If God is LOVE, and He is, then we must look to what His Word says about love. And that’s what we must show to the world. So that they too can know who God is and what it means to follow Him.