Love is one of the strongest things in this world. As a member of the Body of Christ this fact is no different. One of the most important commands that we have is to love. In the book of Deuteronomy, we see that God commands His people to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut 6:5). The Bible shows the importance of love by stating that “…everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). If God is love, then He would be able to show the purest form of it, and He did by sending His Son to die on the cross. But how exactly are we to love? How are we to show and express that love? Since Jesus is Deity in the flesh, we can look at how He lived and see the beauty of true love in one’s life. We will briefly look at a few examples of how Jesus loved and see how we can let the beauty of Jesus be seen through our love.
One cannot deny the love Christ had for His disciples while on this earth. In the book of John, we see that Christ gives a commandment to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). In this statement Jesus Himself says that He loves His disciples and tells them to follow His example and love one another. This attribute is one of Christ that we, as Christians, ought to strive to perfect. Too often, there are divisions among the brethren. Though we are commanded to withdraw from those living in sin, we should not let little and petty things divide us as members of the body of Christ.
Another thing that we can see in Jesus’ love for His followers is that He loved them enough to pray for them. In the book of Luke, we see Jesus tell Peter that Satan had desired to have him, but He had prayed for Peter, that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:31-32). What a wonderful thought to have that our Savior prays for those who follow Him. We ought to imitate this in our lives and pray for our fellow brethren.
Along with showing love to His followers, Christ also showed love for His enemies. After enduring a night of false accusations, being the center of an improper court, beaten, spat on, scourged, nailed to a cross, and hoisted up for all to look upon and mock, Christ looked up to the Heavens and uttered, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). What a great example to look to; when He is at His lowest point, when anyone else would have wished harm to those who caused them hurt had they been in His position, Christ prayed to the Father on their behalf. This love is the kind that we, as Christians, ought to show every day. There are those in the world who disagree with the Word of God. They will argue, ridicule, say you are not loving, and may even seek to harm you for not supporting them in their sin. When this happens to us, will we show the love that Christ showed (cf. Matt. 5:43-44; Luke 6:35)?
Not only did Jesus show love to those who followed Him, as well as those who saw Him as an enemy, but Jesus showed love to all. In arguably the most well-known passage in the Bible, we see that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Being deity in the flesh, our Savior could have, at any point, thrown in the towel and given up on humanity. He did not have to endure such a death like He did on the cross. But, because of the love He had, and continues to have, He offered Himself as a sacrifice for all. That means those who love Him and hate Him, those who never believe in Him or obey His commands, He died for them all. What a love to have. As Christians, as followers of Christ, we should portray this kind of selfless love in our lives. If we wish to let the beauty of Jesus be seen in us, then we MUST love as He loved. We must love our fellow brethren; we must love those who wish us harm, and we must love those who are lost. Let us seek to show the love of Christ to all in the world who rarely see true love.