3 Ways We Love Like Jesus
How did Jesus love others? How can we love like Jesus?
God calls us to imitate His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ set the example of how to love others in the most godly and practical ways.
And we are called to love. Because the Bible never commands us to like others. But God’s Word commands us to love people.
So we look to the Scriptures to see how Jesus loved well in the midst of His biggest critics, the religious leaders.
These religious men falsely believed a holy life meant keeping every letter of the law and adding to the law their own interpretations and rules, instead of showing compassion to others.
Even today, ministry may focus on programs over people, rules over compassion and love.
Since Jesus led the way of loving unconditionally and practically, He is our example.
(1.) We love like Jesus with kindness.
I like the adage, “Kindness goes a long way.” And this definition for a person who’s kind: Sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tenderhearted, generous. (YourDictionary)
When others see a kind smile, kindness in word or action, or they notice generosity and compassion in us, they see kindness in us. They see Jesus in us.
Jesus exemplified kindness when He desired the children to come to Him, when He stopped to comfort and heal people with great needs, and when He looked at people with a compassionate heart.
It’s love with kindness. Here’s how the Bible describes it.
“Love is patient and kind….” 1 Corinthians 13:4a (ESV)
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12 (ESV)
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
We love with kindness.
(2.) Jesus loves with truth.
Jesus never compromised the truth in order to love, not one time in His life and ministry. Instead, Jesus loved others with the truth.
Consider the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Christ tore down social barriers by talking to a Samaritan and a woman about living water (John 4:4-42). Also, the woman caught in adultery was loved by Jesus with truth. But He didn’t overlook her sin or the sin of her accusers (John 8:1-11).
If we separate love and truth, we lose the true meaning of the gospel.
God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16), who is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6).
We love with truth. Not in a brow-beating way, but in a humble, unconditional way like Jesus.
(3.) We love like Jesus with mercy and grace.
Jesus loves with mercy and grace. Christ always extends His grace and mercy to every man, woman, and child from every walk of life. During His ministry, Jesus humbly offered grace to everyone.
And Jesus was merciful in His love. He taught others to graciously and mercifully forgive others as He forgives us. Christ even forgave those who crucified Him.
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16 (ESV)
“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.” 2 John 1:3 (ESV)
We love with mercy and grace.
Love in Kindness, Truth, Grace And Mercy
I’m the first to admit how loving others in the way Jesus loves never comes easy. But I pray the Holy Spirit helps me love others in kindness, truth, grace and mercy—the way Jesus loves me.
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This portion really touched my heart, Karen: “If we separate love and truth, we lose the true meaning of the gospel. God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16), who is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6). We love with truth. Not in a brow-beating way, but in a humble, unconditional way like Jesus.”
Thank you, Melinda. It took me years to connect the dots between truth and love. But once I made the connection, the Lord continued to grow me in this area and open my spiritual eyes to loving others.
Reading your post, the one thought that kept coming into my mind was, “To love like Jesus, you have to love them first.” In each of your three ways, it was clear that Christ’s love was not conditional upon others first loving Christ, but Jesus showed His love for them, leading them to loving Him in return. If we too would show His love to others, I suspect more would see Him and be compelled to seek more of Him. Great post ma’am.
Great word and insight, J.D. We love because He first loved us. And we love Christ not because of what He can do for us, but because of who He IS. This perspective sets the precedent for loving others.
Excellent piece! It’s hard sometimes in this broken world to understand HOW we should act and be. We have fewer and fewer role models. But let’s remember what you say here: “Christ set the example of how to love others in the most godly and practical ways.” We don’t need to worry about earthly role models because Christ sets our example.
That’s true, Jessica. We look to Christ for the highest example of godly living, devotion to the Father, spiritual discipline, and in how to love!
As I read this message, I realized my body was calming and my shoulders relaxing. Loving like Jesus loves allows us to enter into thoughts of peace and calm. Thank you for this inspirational message.
Thanks for sharing that, Melissa. “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.” 2 John 1:3 (ESV)
May God help us love as he does. Thanks for this great lesson, Karen. God bless!
Thanks, Nancy. “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
Oh, Lord Jesus, help me to love others as you do every day of my life!
Wonderful and moving reflection, Karen – thank you, my friend!
Appreciate your encouragement here, Martha. I’m the first to admit how loving others in the way Jesus loves never comes easy. But I pray the Holy Spirit helps me love others in kindness, truth, grace and mercy—the way Jesus loves me.
I used to be all about truth and right living and it took me maybe 15-20 years before I started recognizing love as the underlying basis for everything we do and that it needs to shine through our actions as the primary action. I especially like this line even before you dive into the verses: “Even today, ministry may focus on programs over people, rules over compassion and love.” I used to walk quickly past people on my way to doing ministry kind of in the forefront. I’m not in the forefront much anymore and I’m glad to not have that as a distraction or excuse.
Stephen, I like how you said this, “recognizing love as the underlying basis for everything we do and that it needs to shine through our actions as the primary action.” That’s good. If we don’t have real, godly love, we lower ourselves to the level of the religious people Jesus called out. Sometimes it’s easy for any of us to focus on the rules and forget the love of Christ. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Another great message Karen. We have forgotten how to love like Jesus. So often, it seems like we just want to make others happy. Loving like Christ includes sharing truth and grace.
Yes, Yvonne. Truth + Grace = Love.
Loving like Jesus with grace, mercy, truth, and kindness shines brightly in the dark world we live in!
I agree, Amy, what really sets us apart in the world is our love.
Loving in truth certainly can be challenging at times but His way is always the best way, isn’t it?
Yes, it is, Donna. God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16), who is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Karen, loving others like Jesus is a struggle for me. I love how you break it down and back it up with Scripture. This will help me to Love in Kindness, Truth, Grace, And Mercy.
Deborah, I don’t think it comes naturally for any of us. But through the power of the Holy Spirit in us and the crucified life (Galatians 2:20), it’s possible to truly love like Jesus. Thanks for commenting, God bless.
When I was a teenager, I joined a youth group’s “worship team,” despite being troubled and not sure I really believed in God. The kindhearted youth pastor didn’t care about my past (or my present;) he just loved me as Jesus did. When I hit rock bottom, he was the one I reached out to; truly, through this godly man, the kindness of the Lord led me to repentance. Thank you for these reminders of how to love like Him!
Candice, that’s a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it. Kindness is a powerful thing in the world, especially for followers of Jesus. “Love is patient and kind….” 1 Corinthians 13:4a (ESV)
[…] way Jesus loves me.” Me too, Karen. Me too. You can read Karen Friday’s post, 3 Ways We Love Like Jesus HERE. The Lord seems to be reminding us this week to do the hard thing and love like […]
Karen, I love the reminder that we love with mercy and grace-God does not withhold His abundant mercy and grace from anyone, or dole it out rated on our performance, yet how many times have I done this to others? Thank you for these straightforward reminders on how to love other as Jesus.
Hey Donna, it’s definitely a learning process to love like Jesus. We give out grace and mercy because we want mercy and grace from others, and have so graciously received it from the Lord.
“Christ even forgave those who crucified Him.” Not that is love! I’m not there yet, but I’m on a journey to be more like HIm.
That is real and unconditional love, isn’t it? To forgive the worst of our enemies and those who hurt us. May He continue to grow love inside us from His example as it spills over onto others in our lives.
We won’t go wrong if we truly love like Jesus. Like you say, it’s not always easy to do, but it is the goal!
Lisa, it’s not easy, but doable through the strength the Lord provides as we model loving like Jesus.
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