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Posted by IMAWitness (Member # 5682) on :

LOVE LIKE JESUS DID

SCRIPTURE READING - JOHN 15:9-17

KEY VERSE: "SO NOW I AM GIVING YOU A NEW COMMANDMENT: LOVE EACH OTHER. JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, YOU SHOULD LOVE EACH OTHER. LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER WILL PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES." JOHN 13:34-35 (NLT)

WE OFTEN QUOTE JESUS COMMAND TO LOVE EACH OTHER, BUT WE IGNORE THE LAST HALF OF THE VERSE. JESUS SAID, "THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT: LOVE EACH OTHER IN THE SAME WAY I HAVE LOVED YOU." (JOHN 14:12 (NLT)) JESUS WANTED US TO EMULATE HIS LOVE, TO LOVE LIKE HE LOVED. SO, THE QUESTION THEN IS, HOW DID JESUS LOVE?

HIS LOVE WAS UNCONDITIONAL. A PUBLICAN, A PHARISEE, A PROSTITUTE, A BLIND MAN, CHILDREN, DISABLED, FOREIGNER, IT DIDN'T MATTER WHO THEY WERE, JESUS LOVED THEM. IT DIDN'T MATTER WHAT THE NEED WAS, SICKNESS, DISABILITY,DEATH, DEMON POSSESSION, HUNGER, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, NEED FOR ADVISE, JESUS LOVED THEM. IT DIDN'T MATTER WHETHER IS WAS 5000 HUNGRY PEOPLE, OR ONE BLIND BEGGAR, JESUS LOVED THEM. JESUS EVEN LOVED THE UNLOVELY. A JEW WOULDN'T EVEN THINK OF GOING NEAR, LET ALONE LOVING, A LEPER, A SAMARITAN WOMAN, A WOMAN FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY, BUT JESUS NOT ONLY DREW NEAR TO THEM, HE LOVED THEM. WE'D BE MAKING EXCUSES,HE'S TOO THIS, SHE'S TOO THAT, JESUS LOVED THEM.

THIS REMINDS ME OF A MAN I KNEW IN THE CHURCH WHERE I STARTED OUT. HIS NAME WAS GEORGE. HE WASN'T ALL THAT TO LOOK AT, AND HIS BEHAVIOR WOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE HE WAS A LITTLE OFF. WHEN YOU ASKED HIM, "HOW ARE YOU?", HE WOULD TELL YOU IN VIVID DETAIL FOR HOWEVER MANY MINUTES IT TOOK. HOW DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE LIKE THIS? JESUS DID. THE POINT IS THAT WHEN IT CAME FOR JESUS TO LOVE SOMEONE, NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.

JUST HOW THEN DO WE LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY? WE MUST REALIZE THAT WE DONT' HAVE THE CAPACITY TO LOVE LIKE THIS, BUT GOD DOES. ROMANS 5:5 TELLS US THAT WHEN WE BECAME GOD'S CHILDREN, WE ALSO BECAME CONDUITS OF HIS LOVE THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO FREELY SHARE HIS LOVE TO THOSE WHO NEED TO BE LOVED. IT'S NOT EASY AT FIRST, BUT OVER TIME IT BECOMES ADDICTIVE.

HIS LOVE WAS GENEROUS. TO THE SICK AND DISABLED HE GAVE HEALING. TO THE POSSESSED HE GAVE DELIVERANCE. TO THE DEAD HE GAVE LIFE. TO THE HUNGRY HE GAVE FOOD. TO THE AFFLICTED HE GAVE COMFORT. TO THOSE ASKING QUESTIONS HE GAVE ANSWERS. HE NEVER STOPPED GIVING. HE GAVE UNSELFISHLY, EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN. HE GAVE HIS ALL.

HIS LOVE WAS SACRIFICIAL. HE LITERALLY GAVE HIS LIFE TO SATISFY OUR GREATEST NEED, THE NEED FOR FORGIVNESS OF SIN AND ETERNAL LIFE. WE MAY NOT HAVE TO LITERALLY SACRIFICE OUR LIVES FOR EACH OTHER, BUT WE WILL HAVE TO SACRIFICE WHAT GIVE OUR LIVES PURPOSE AND DIRECTION: OUR TIME, OUR ENERGY, OUR TALENTS, OUR COMFORT. LOVE IS NOT CONVENIENT, IT IS 24/7. IT CAN'T BE SCHEDULED OR PLANNED FOR, IT JUST HAS TO BE DONE. NO ONE EXPRESSED THIS BETTER THAN JESUS HIMSELF WHEN HE SAID, "THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE THAN TO LAY DOWN ONE'S LIFE FOR ONE'S FRIENDS." (JOHN 15:13 (NLT)) JOHN HIMSELF PUT IT THIS WAY, "WE KNOW WHAT REAL LOVE IS BECAUSE JESUS GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR US. SO WE ALSO OUGHT TO GIVE UP OUR LIVES FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS." (I JOHN 3:16 (NLT))

THIS IS HOW JESUS LOVES, AND THIS IS HOW WE OUGHT TO LOVE.

O TO BE LIKE THEE! FULL OF COMPASSION,
LOVING, FORGIVING, TENDER AND KIND;
HELPING THE HELPLESS, CHEERING THE FAINTING,
SEEKING THE WANDERING SINNER TO FIND. (CHISHOLM)

WWJD? LOVE