Love like Jesus

 It's easy to love the people who love you, or those who we see as lovable, but oh the struggle it is to love people who are hard to love, or your enemies. I've been reading a great book by Phil Ryken called, Loving the Way Jesus Loves.  It has been sanctifying in so many ways and a constant reminder of how much I need to grow in this area.  Although I wouldn't have ever considered myself someone who struggles with loving people, the more I search my heart, the more I realize how much I need to grow in the fruit of love.  And how the Lord works, when we pray for more of something, or the ability to do something which seems impossible, He often tends to bring more and more chances for us to demonstrate it, endeavoring to stretch us, remold us, and encourage us in our sanctification.

1 Corinthians 13:3 says, " If I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." This is a powerful statement by the apostle Paul.  1 Corinthians is often deemed as the 'love passage' in Scripture, although it truly does speak more than a dozen times of love, it is often misunderstood.  Reading it out of context, apart from the rest of the book of 1 Corinthians, does not make it any less true, but does cause the reader or the hearer to miss so much.  Ryken explains that in order to fully understand 1 Corinthians, the reader must understand the Corinthian church.  The church was one that was sharply divided over theology, practice, and spiritual gifts.  They needed MORE of the love of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul was not writing something for the Corinthians to include in their wedding ceremonies, but rather exhorting the loveless people in the church to live and love selflessly for the glory of God.

For both the Corinthians and Christians today, love should be a distinguishing characteristic in our Christianity.  Jonathan Edwards said that love is the virtue in Scripture "more insisted on than any other virtue in the New Testament".  If the Word speaks so much to it, we best listen.  We are nothing without it.  Paul explains that all of our spiritual gifts, all of our ministry, all of it, means nothing if it is devoid of love, true biblical love.  God may allow us to hold a privileged position in ministry, and use the gifts He has given us, and yet, we may do it without love in our hearts for anyone but ourselves.  That is a frightening, yet realistic idea.  We are often so selfish that we may even do things for others, that may look like an act of love, when in actuality, our internal motivation is selfish, for ourselves.  Edwards goes on to say, "Whatever is done or suffered, yet if the heart is withheld from God, there is nothing really given to him."

After reading this you might feel as Ryken did, Edwards, or myself...hopeless.  What hope is there for a loveless sinner like me?  The hope is in the gospel.  Ryken says, "We will never learn how to love by working it up from our own hearts but only by having more of Jesus in our lives."  Scripture says, we love BECAUSE HE first loved us (1 John 4:19).  Ryken goes on to say, "the only way to become more loving is to have more of the love of Jesus as we meet Him in the gospel", and I would add, daily.

We need to admit that we do not love the way Jesus loves.  Paul includes himself in the rebuke and exhortation, he says, "If I do these things without love, I am nothing".  Ryken shares the story of the rich young ruler in in the gospels.  This man had it all, or so it seemed, and he was "righteous" so to speak.  He came asking Jesus what he must do to gain eternal life.  After checking the boxes off with the Savior with regards to his obedience and morality, Jesus commands the man to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor.  At this point, the man is unable to obey.  This self righteous sinner, who seemed to have his act together, had such a high opinion of himself that he refused to see and admit to his own sin.  BUT interestingly enough, Jesus loved Him.  Jesus loved him enough to give him this test for his own love.  It is Jesus who also gives us a test of our love, helping us to see that we are not as loving as we think we are and ought to be.  BUT by his death on the cross our loveless hearts have been forgiven and redeemed.  And through that sacrifice, we are made new, and enabled by the Spirit to love like Jesus.

What an encouraging reality to know that we CAN love like Jesus.  He empowers us, He enables us, He strengthens us, and gives us the grace each day, thanks to the Gospel, to love, and love selflessly and sacrificially.  We love because He first loved us, may His love motivate us to love daily like Him.