Loving Like Christ

 In John 13 verse 34 it says, ‘A new command I give to you – Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another”.

I have to admit, some Christians struggle with this.  I have seen many churches where the ‘business of the church’, as in the roles people play and how they act in those roles means that this command goes through the window.  I have also visited churches where the opposite is true and love shines through in all they do and so the question is ‘how do we balance this?’ as both are important.

Churches have to operate as a business.  People often think that all they do is open on a Sunday morning and that is that.  When I was the Lay Pastor of my local church, it was difficult to balance the workload connected with the work of the church and because this was not a paid position, working full time to earn a wage.

Church ministers work tirelessly not only on the business aspects of the church such as finances, building maintenance, complying with all laws and applicable rules with regard to health and safety etc, as well as the spiritual side of supporting the congregation and local community.

I am going to say though, that if you do not have love in your heart which encompasses all you do, then you should not be doing it!

This, for me, at least, is the message in this passage, I mean it cannot be any clearer, can it?

‘A new command I give to you – Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another”.

There are two words in that verse that make it one of the most powerful messages in the bible and these are ‘command’ and ‘must’.

As Christians, we believe in the sovereignty and power of Christ incarnate, God, the three in one and so when he says ‘command’ we better take note of it and if he say’s ‘must’ then we ought to be doing everything we can to ensure we are doing it.

So, what is the message from this verse.  Well, Jesus us calling us to love others as he loves us and that is unconditionally, sacrificially and without any expectation of return. It is also not transactional love, which seems to be the most prevalent form of love in the western world today whereby the love you receive is based upon what you put, much like a politician granted your favours (showing transactional love) just because you have donated millions to their campaign fund and I’m also not talking about love that is based on feelings (romantic love), because the love that Jesus is talking about is a much higher standard.  True Christian love is a choice, not just an emotion and it is an active commitment to seek the good in others, which can often be inconvenient or difficult to say the least.

Let me break down for you what it means to love like Christ.

The first thing is that we have to recognise that this is unconditional love.  Jesus loved people no matter their flaws and failures and bad decisions, take Judas for example, Jesus loved him as one of the twelve and yet was betrayed by him and Peter, Jesus loved Peter as one of the twelve and the one who would build up his church, yet he denied knowing Jesus three times.  True love does not depend on how others treat us.

Secondly, his love was sacrificial.  Christ gave his life for us (john 15:13), but what does that mean for us.  Simply, it means that we should put others before ourselves, whether that be through acts of kindness (word or deed), generosity or patience.

Thirdly, it is a serving love.  Jesus, the Messiah, the king, the son of God, got down on his knees and washed the feet of the disciples.  They were totally shocked by this, after all, should it not be they that wash his feet?  This was a powerful example to his disciples that loving like Jesus means that you are in humble service to others.

Lastly, and to me (and people may disagree as is their right), the thing that really should be first.  I have put this last in my list because I want you to know that for me, without this, there is no point doing any of the other three.  There is no point in having unconditional love or a sacrificial love or a serving love if you do not have a forgiving love.  You know Jesus, whilst he was on the cross asked God to forgive those that were crucifying him!  We need to choose forgiveness over resentment every time, even within the most difficult of circumstances.

 

So, what are the practical ways that we can use to love like Christ?

·       Practice patience. In James 1:19 it says be slow to anger and quick to listen.

·       Show kindness on a daily basis.  Simple acts like a smile, a kind word or an encouraging message can reflect Christs love.

·       Forgive quickly.  Holding onto bitterness hurts you more than the other person.  Choosing grace over grudges is always a good thing.

·       Pray.  The backbone of our communication with God.  Pray for those you know, especially those that have hurt you, pray for those you don’t know – situations you see that touch your heart and remember in Matthew 5:44, Jesus us tells us to pray for our enemies.

·       Selflessly serve.  Volunteer, help a friend in need or just simply be present for someone who needs some one who will just listen, especially those that are going through a tough time.  Here’s an important thing to remember as well, selflessly serve those who are going through good times.  We often forget about people for who life is going well.  We think ‘oh, they are doing great, we don’t need to worry about them’.  We do though, we still need to show that we are still there and willing to serve them, we should be forgetting anyone.

 

Now, all of this brings up some questions like ‘What if they don’t deserve any love?   Let me put this to you straight, none of us deserve God’s love as it tells us in Romans 5:8, yet God freely gives it and so if we are to be like Christ, then we should freely give of it to.

 

‘What if somebody has hurt me deeply?’  Let me be really clear on this.  Love is in no way, shape or form about tolerating abuse and if you have been abused, I urge to take all the legal action you can.  Romans 12:19 tell us though that we are to release resentment and entrust justice unto God.

 

‘What if I feel unappreciated?’  Love is not and never should be about recognition.  In Luke 17:11-19 it tells us that Jesus healed eleven lepers, but only one of them turned back and thanked him.  Did he turn round and restrike the ten down with leprosy again? No.  He loved them and healed them just the same.

 

I want to encourage you to love like Christ in all that you do.  It’s not easy and it is something that I also struggle with but it has the power to transform relationships and brings us closer to God.  When we love selflessly we are a reflection of his character in a crazy mixed up world and we become a living testimony to grace.

 

To finish, let me ask you this question.  It is currently March 2025 when I am writing this, but this is an age old that was born through Jesus’s own teachings and words and has passed down through the millennia since and will continue for millennia to come, so if you are reading this now (March 2025) or in a thousand years’ time, answer this ‘who is God calling on you to love more intentionally this week and what are you going to do about it following his guidance as stated above.

 

With many blessings and much love

 

 

Rev. Chris.