How to love like JESUS?

We all want to be loved and be taken cared of. But most of the time people disappoint us because the love that we give them is not reciprocated and sometimes others even hurt us with their words and actions. What this world needs now is love, a love like JESUS. How can we love like JESUS?

The answer lies in committing ourselves to loving JESUS first. JESUS said in Matthew 22:37-38 that the first and greatest commandment is to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul and mind. We should make loving Him our purpose. Because when we love Him first, He will give us His Spirit and as the Spirit dwells in our hearts, it helps us love others more effectively by transforming us to be like JESUS. The Spirit will reveal to us the characteristics of JESUS as we read the Bible. It will also renew our minds helping us follow JESUS’ commandments. Not just that, it will as well guide us on how to love others more effectively.  

Before, when I was still a Catholic, I had a hard time loving others, I easily get offended and it was hard for me to forgive. But now that I have a closer relationship with CHRIST, I have a change of heart. Ever since I accepted CHRIST as my LORD and Savior, and commit myself to loving Him first above anyone and anything else, all my insecurities were gone making me an effective lover. This is what I noticed after I accepted JESUS and made a decision to love Him and serve Him first. I felt I am changed. I felt insurmountable peace and overwhelming joy. My shyness is gone and I felt light that I became friendly, trusting, and not suspicious of others. I am not timid anymore I already know how to mingle with others and communicate with them more effectively. When our inside baggage or our personal troubles are gone, our relationship with others including our families and friends become better.   

Love is about maintaining a good relationship. I said above that we should love JESUS first. We can express our love for Him by constantly communicating with Him every day especially in the morning after waking up and in the evening before going to bed. We can also show our love for JESUS by reading the Bible day and night so we will know His characteristics and imitate them. Now, what are JESUS’ characteristics that we need to imitate and follow so we can love others well?

Here they are:

1. Loving. It is said in 1 John 4:8 that GOD is love. Psalm 145:8 also says, “The LORD is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love.” It means JESUS is a loving GOD. He showed us His love that while we were yet sinners, He died for us to be saved from sin (Romans 5:8). JESUS did this so we can love like Him too. We can show love by being appreciative, considerate and sympathetic to others. We can best show our love for others by sharing the gospel of salvation to them and leading them to CHRIST so they would live in heaven in eternity with us too.

2. Kind and compassionate. JESUS demonstrates his kindness to us by saving us and giving us eternal life (John 3:16). He also showed compassion to us by coming here on earth and teaching us about life and love (Mark 6:34) and healing the sick. Since JESUS wants us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34), we should follow His commands and stay kind to each other. We can be kind to others by being helpful. We should always offer a helping hand when we notice that someone is busy doing something. We should help them lighten their tasks. We can also show compassion to others by easing out their burdens through encouragements and good advice when they are hurt and confused.  

3. Forgiving. When we love JESUS first and care about His feelings, pleasing Him becomes our priority. When we want to please Him, we follow His commands. JESUS commanded us in Matthew 18:22 that we should forgive our brother seventy times seven. We should be quick to forgive and not retaliate or get even. We should imitate JESUS because He is a forgiving GOD. He even forgave the people who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). Sometimes forgiving can be hard but if we ask JESUS to help us forgive the person who hurt us, forgiving becomes easy.

4. Selfless. JESUS is a selfless GOD. He gave Himself up to take away our sins (Hebrews 9:28). Dying for others is a big and hard sacrifice but JESUS did it for our own good and to express His great love for us. We sacrifice when we give up our own feelings, pride and personal interests just to show love and maintain a good loving relationship with others. Sometimes even if we don’t feel like doing our task we do it because we want to maintain love and friendship especially with our spouse and family members and with others too.  So we should sacrifice our own interests and time just to let them feel they are loved. A good example is if your child who is ill and you need to bring him/her to the doctor. You should sacrifice your own time and money just for the child to get better.

5. Giving. JESUS is a giving GOD. He always gives us breath, strength, good health, peace, joy, knowledge, wisdom, food, and clothes for us to live here on earth. With this being said, we should also be generous to others. We should share with them our blessings and resources. We should share our food, money, and house to those who are in need.

6. Merciful. JESUS is a merciful GOD. He even showed mercy to the woman who was caught committing adultery. He did not condemn her but He forgave her instead (John 8:3-11). He also showed His mercy by laying his life down for us (John 15:13). It is written in Matthew 5:7 that blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy. So we should as well be merciful to everyone especially to the poor and needy. We can show mercy to the afflicted by praying for them. We can also be merciful to those who have offended us by being kind and forgiving.  Lastly, we can show mercy to the hurting by comforting and encouraging them.

7. Humble. JESUS said in Matthew 11:29 that He is humble and gentle; this is one of His best traits that we should imitate and follow. Humility is esteeming others better than you and not insisting your own views and opinions about something. It is accepting the truth that we are not all-knowing and that we can do nothing apart from JESUS. So, we should trust, rely and depend on Him completely always. It is being grateful for what you have too and admitting you are wrong. 1 Peter 5:5 says, GOD opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. So we better walk humbly with our GOD.

In conclusion, we can love like JESUS by loving JESUS first, knowing His characteristics and imitating them. We can show love by being loving, kind, compassionate, forgiving, selfless, giving, merciful, and humble like JESUS. I hope this article has helped you. My prayer is that you will grow in love and faith. I love you with the love of the LORD JESUS. God bless!