Loving Others Well

Do you know what love means? Many people grow up with imperfect pictures of love. It can be difficult to think about when we may not have ever experienced true love. It can be even harder to love others when we aren’t sure what that means. 

Jesus spoke a lot about love, and He also commanded His followers to love people. More than that, Jesus modeled love in His life and ministry. He gave us a picture of what pure love looks like.

Jesus instructed His disciples multiple times to love one another. The Old Testament also contains commands to love others. Jesus’ command is new, not because it was the first time it had ever been said, but because He uses Himself as the standard.

He doesn’t command us to love people until we’re tired. He doesn’t say to love others until we don’t feel like it. He says to love others in the same way He has loved us.

Jesus loves us unconditionally. He does not hold anything back from us. Instead, He gave His entire life up for us. And He didn’t do this to please other people—but because He loved His Heavenly Father, and His Heavenly Father deeply loved us. It was unconditional love that led Jesus to the cross.

Jesus cares about the quality of our love toward others, and the measure of the quality of our love is Jesus, not people. We shouldn’t compare our acts and thoughts  against other people, because the only person we are called to be like is Jesus Himself.  

Think about the past few days and reflect on how loving you were toward other people. Did you go out of your way to help someone? Were you selfless in showing love? Consider a few practical ways you can love others the way Jesus loves you. Spend some time in prayer, and then take a step toward showing someone love.