Loving Like Jesus

by Faith Miller

What does real love look like? In 1 John Chapter 4, it says that God Himself is love. Therefore, if we want to know how to be Christ-like, we can look at how Jesus loved others when He was on Earth. He communed with tax collectors, prostitutes, and lepers. He dined with them and He did not show any reservation in treating them with pure kindness and love. How often are we guilty of seeing a person less fortunate than us and moving on with our own lives, not thinking about what we can do for them? I know I have been guilty of this more times than I can count.

Many times, we are not able to help others who are in need financially, but simply lending your time and listening to others, can mean more to people than you would ever know. One of my teachers once spoke on this very subject and told us about a time when he was at Walmart and a stranger started talking to him out of the blue. It was late at night and he was ready to go, but he heard the Holy Spirit tell him to just stay and listen to the man.

This man talked for twenty minutes and suddenly started opening up about how no one that he knows ever really listens to him when he talks. He started to cry. His wife, kids, and friends would never show him love in this way. My teacher was able to tell the man about Jesus’s love for him, all because he took the time out of his own life to listen to this man, who he had no idea was going through this. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 states, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

To truly love others, it takes more than being nice to someone, although that is important. Genuine love challenges us to be humble, to lay our own lives to

the side, and to care for others as Jesus did. Someone once told me, “Beauty is not here I am, but rather here you are.” It takes putting the focus on others, rather than ourselves, to show someone that they are loved. Jesus made others more important than Himself, even to the point of dying on the cross so we might have life. I challenge you to look for opportunities to love people in a deeper way. Whether that means taking the time to sit and listen to them talk or doing something special for them. Find ways to let people know that they are loved and valued as Jesus does for us.