To love like Jesus, we need to
understand a simple truth. We cannot live the Christian life on our own.
Sooner or later, in the midst of our frustration, we come to the
conclusion that we’re doing something wrong. It’s not working. Our best efforts
just don’t cut it.
DISCOVERING WHY WE CAN’T LOVE LIKE JESUS
All of us want to love like Jesus. We want to be generous,
forgiving, and compassionate enough to love people unconditionally. But no
matter how hard we try, it just doesn’t work. Our humanness gets in the way.
Jesus was human too, but he was also God incarnate. He was able
to see the people he created in a way that we can’t. He personified love. In fact, the Apostle John said, “God is love…” (1 John 4:16)
You and I are not love. We can love, but we can’t do it
perfectly. We see others’ faults and stubbornness. When we remember the slights
they have done to us, a small part of us can’t forgive. We refuse to make
ourselves as vulnerable as Jesus did because we know we’ll get hurt again. We
love and at the same time we hold back.
Yet Jesus tells us to love as he did: “A new commandment I give
to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to
love one another.” (John 13:34)
How do we do something we’re incapable of doing? We turn to
Scripture for the answer and it’s there we learn the secret of how to love like
Jesus.
LOVE LIKE JESUS THROUGH ABIDING
We don’t get very far before we learn the Christian life is
impossible. Jesus gave us the key, however: “With man it is impossible, but not
with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)
He explained this truth in depth in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, with his parable of the vine and branches.
I am the true vine, and my Father is
the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I
in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing. 6 If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and
cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you. 8 Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.9 As the Father hath
loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:1-10,)
Did you catch that in verse 5? “Apart from me you can do
nothing.” We can’t love like Jesus on our own. In fact, we can’t do anything in
the Christian life on our own.
The missionary James Hudson Taylor
called it “the exchanged life.” We surrender our life to Jesus to the extent
that when we abide in Christ, he loves others through us. We can endure
rejection because Jesus is the vine that sustains us. His love heals our hurts
and supplies the strength we need to keep going.
LOVE LIKE JESUS BY TRUSTING
Surrendering and abiding are things we can do only through the
power of the Holy Spirit. He dwells in baptized believers,
guiding us to the right decision and giving us the grace to trust God.
When we see a selfless Christian saint who can love like Jesus,
we can be sure that person is abiding in Christ. What would be too hard on our
own, we can do through this act of abiding. We continue to abide by reading the
Bible, praying, and attending church with
other believers. In this way our trust in God is built up.
Like branches on a vine, our Christian life is a growth process.
We mature more every day. As we abide in Jesus, we learn to know him better and
trust him more. Cautiously, we reach out to others. We love them. The greater
our trust in Christ, the greater our compassion will be.
This is a lifelong challenge. When we are rebuffed, we have the
choice to draw back or give our hurt to Christ and try again. Abiding is what
matters. When we live that truth, we can begin to love like Jesus.
Pastor Rolando Ramos
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