Love Like Jesus

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

– 1 John 3:16

God is love.

We find this remarkable, three-word declaration in the New Testament book of 1 John. And it’s the good news that the world needs. But a quick check of the headlines reveals that society is looking for love in all the wrong places. Rather than embracing their Creator for wisdom and security, most people choose to follow the false gods of money, entertainment, materialism, and pleasure — to name just a few.

Is it any wonder that God’s response is to use Christ-followers as his hands and feet on earth? Jesus calls us the light of the world. And that means we’re to illuminate faith, hope, and action so that people see our good works and glorify God. The implications for Believers are great because we’re called to be beacons of truth amidst the bleakness of the mundane. And to succeed in this mission, we must understand and convey God’s wonderful plan for his creation. However, the world doesn’t particularly care about how much we know. It just wants to see how much we care. 

Simply put, it means we must love like Jesus. But where do we begin?

We can start by sharing God’s love through character, which means bringing hope to every interaction. Through community, we can bring unity to every relationship. And with communication (listening and speaking), we can show that we care enough to engage people where they are — and all while sharing the Good News of Christ in both word and deed.

“Little children, let us love, not in word or speech,” the apostle John explains,
“but in truth and action.”