This quarter at church, I am one of three group leaders who are facilitating small group discussions in a class entitled, “Follow Me: 90 Days In Jesus’ Footsteps.” In these small groups, we study Jesus’ words on a subject and then use the next class to make it practical by talking about ways we can apply His words to us. The first lesson we are studying is “Love Like Jesus.”
Tomorrow, we will work on the application. In this post, I will share some of my thoughts in the class, but I am really looking forward to hearing the wisdom of my group members as we share insights and experiences to help us all grow to be more like Jesus, especially in the area of loving like Jesus. Here are some of my thoughts around what we learn from Jesus’ words and how we can apply them to be more like Him.
In the Gospels, Jesus’ teachings about love focus on a profound, self-sacrificial, and unconditional love. Examining His words about love can help us understand how to apply His example in our lives and follow Him more closely. Here are key passages and principles about love, practical challenges, and roadblocks we may face, along with steps to apply His teachings:
Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, and Mind (Matthew 22:37-38). Jesus identifies the greatest commandment as loving God fully, with all our being. This demands complete devotion and prioritization of God above all else.
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31). Loving others as we love ourselves means showing care, compassion, and empathy to everyone, not just those we like or who treat us well.
Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-36). Jesus challenges His disciples to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, demonstrating a love that transcends human standards of reciprocity or fairness.
A New Commandment: Love One Another as I Have Loved You (John 13:34-35). Jesus sets the ultimate standard of love for His disciples, calling us to love each other as He loved us—sacrificially and unconditionally.
Greater Love Has No One Than This: To Lay Down One’s Life for Friends (John 15:12-13). Jesus highlights that the greatest expression of love is self-sacrifice, pointing to His own sacrifice as the ultimate example.
As we study what Jesus teaches about love, we must look inwardly to apply His teachings. This is where the transformation begins. But before we can make that transformation, we must be able to see the challenges and roadblocks to loving like Jesus. Below are some roadblocks I see as I examine my life and some steps I can take to help me overcome these roadblocks. I hope they can be of benefit to you too.
Self-Centeredness
Roadblock: Our natural inclination is often to prioritize ourselves and our needs, which can hinder loving others sacrificially.
Step: Regular self-examination and prayer, asking God to cultivate humility and shift focus away from self toward others.
Loving Enemies
Roadblock: It’s incredibly hard to love those who hurt, oppose, or mistreat us. The desire for revenge or self-protection can make this command difficult to follow.
Step: Start with prayer for our enemies and those who have wronged us. Ask God for the strength to let go of bitterness and anger, practicing forgiveness as an act of love.
Conditional Love
Roadblock: Loving only those who love us back or who meet our expectations is common, but it falls short of Jesus’ example.
Step: Challenge ourselves to love without expecting anything in return. Consider acts of service or kindness to people who may not appreciate or reciprocate them.
Pride
Roadblock: Pride can prevent us from admitting faults, seeking reconciliation, or showing love to those we perceive as beneath us.
Step: Actively practice humility by recognizing our own need for grace. Seek to build relationships with people from all walks of life, and engage in acts of service that may humble our own status or ego.
Busyness and Distractions
Roadblock: Modern life is full of distractions, and prioritizing time to show love and care for others can be overlooked due to busyness.
Step: Intentionally set aside time to engage with others. Small, consistent acts of kindness—checking in on a friend, volunteering, or simply listening to someone—are practical ways to show love.
So, that’s a lot of roadblocks to work on as we try to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in love. To break it down even more, I have thought about the following practical steps to follow Jesus’ teachings on love:
Start with Prayer. Pray for God’s love to fill our hearts and overflow to others. Ask for help in loving difficult people and for guidance in recognizing areas where we struggle.
Practice Forgiveness. Reflect on who might need our forgiveness. Jesus’ teaching about loving enemies includes forgiving those who hurt us, even when it is difficult. Start small if needed, but aim for complete forgiveness as Jesus modeled.
Serve Others Selflessly. Jesus demonstrated love by serving. Look for ways to serve others without expecting recognition—helping the poor, visiting the sick, or mentoring someone in need of guidance.
Cultivate Empathy. Make a habit of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes. Listen actively and seek to understand others’ struggles and pain. This will foster compassion and lead to deeper expressions of love.
Be Intentional with Relationships. Spend time cultivating loving relationships, especially with people outside our immediate circles. Jesus spent time with those who were marginalized, outcast, or despised by society.
These are some steps we can take as we begin to transform ourselves into people who learn to love like Jesus. This is a life-long commitment that can lead to a long-term transformation in our lives. As we close out our study, let me close with three things we can do to help us continue our transformation to be more like Jesus when it comes to loving the way He loves:
Evaluate Our Hearts: Regularly assess our motives. Are we loving for recognition or genuinely seeking the good of others?
Seek Community Accountability: Engage in relationships where we can be held accountable for our growth in love. Small groups or close friendships can help encourage and challenge us to grow.
Celebrate Progress: Acknowledge when we successfully demonstrate love, but remain humble, knowing that Jesus’ love is the ultimate goal.
By following Jesus’ words and example of love, we’ll be moving closer to living as His disciples. It’s a constant journey of self-sacrifice, humility, and growth in grace.
Enjoyed my morning coffee visiting with Wes McAdams. Thank you, brother, for your time as we talked about things concerning the Kingdom of our Lord.
A worthy woman…
“She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.” (Proverbs 31:13-15 ESV).
Do you know what else a worthy woman can do? She can fix a broken dryer when she has a husband who is in no way mechanically inclined.
Thank you, Emily, for all you do for our family.
I am in the book of Ruth in my daily Bible reading, When we read this book, we spend a lot of time talking about Boaz being a redeemer for Naomi and Ruth, foreshadowing the redemption we would have in Jesus, the Messiah.
But there was another redeemer in Ruth that we do not spend a lot of time discussing. This man had the right of redemption before Boaz. What do we know about this redeemer?
Well, when given the chance to add to his wealth, he was eager to exercise his right of redemption.
Listen to Boaz as he presents this redemptive opportunity to the man:
“Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” (Ruth 4:3-4 ESV).
But this redemption came at a cost. In order to accept the benefits of redemption, the redeemer would have to make a great sacrifice.
“Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” (Ruth 4:5 ESV).
This changes everything for the man. He was only interested in being a redeemer if it cost him nothing and gave him everything. Boaz knew this and waited for the man to let this sink in.
“Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” (Ruth 4:6 ESV).
So, in the presence of the elders, Boaz stood up and claimed the right of redemption. With that right came the responsibility toward Ruth and Naomi. He was willing to do what the other man was not willing to do.
When Jesus redeemed us, He did so by taking on all the responsibilities that came with redemption. It cost Him greatly to redeem us, yet it was a cost He was willing to pay for us.
Jesus redeemed us, not only for His benefit, but for our benefit as well. How important was this redemption to Him? Just as Ruth became Boaz’s wife, so do we become the bride of Jesus.
When Jesus redeemed us, He was all-in for us and gave us His grace in a way we did not deserve. He redeemed us, not as servants, but as His very bride.
What a great redeemer we have in Jesus!
You know you’re traveling in the right direction when you’re more concerned about what Jesus will say to you on That Day than you are about what men will say to you on this day.
“But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,” (Matthew 24:48-49 ESV).
Let us not get caught up with life so much that we forget Jesus is coming.
Let us keep our lamps trimmed and ready for the King’s return.
Yesterday, our small group class at church talked about practical ways we could model the love of Jesus in our lives and how we can identify potential roadblocks that could sabotage our efforts so we can mitigate those obstacles.
Let me share one of my favorite lessons I took away from the class.
Sometimes, love means sharing a tough message. If we know a tough message might lead to hard or hurt feelings, then recognize this going into the conversation.
By doing this, we can be prepared to give others grace if they react with raw emotions instead of taking it personally. By showing compassion and grace in these situations, we are more likely to have those hard conversations without being confrontational.
This all starts by preparing ourselves for the possibility that someone may react with emotion so if they do, we can focus on our love for them and give them the grace they need to cope with the love we are sharing with them.
When we spend a lot of time reading the Bible to figure out how we can live in the world to get a lot of what the world offers, we miss the message about being sanctified and set apart as citizens of the kingdom of Heaven.
Many New Thought authors will tell you how to speak your blessings into existence because God has given us the power to create our reality by speaking it to be so.
Many “religious leaders” will tell you how we can use metaphysical principles to tap into the spiritual realm so we can manipulate and create what we desire in the physical realm.
This is a heresy 2000 years old that John and the other apostles fought against, which was contained in the Gnostic beliefs. It’s the idea that our desired reality is ours to create if we tap into the secret knowledge Jesus delivered to His disciples.
We need to spend less time reading the Bible trying to figure out how to conform this world into what we want from it, and spend more time reading the Bible to figure out how we can be transformed from the world and how we can lay up for ourselves treasure in Heaven for the age to come.
We need to be careful who we listen to when we want to tap into the awesome power that Jesus gives us through His Spirit and His Word lest we become deceived to believe that power was given to grant us all of our carnal and earthly desires.
The Word teaches us how to transform us into Kingdom citizens that looks very different from what earthly citizens look like.
Jesus is the model of humility.
He was the one being who could legitimately demand service, yet He came to serve.
At the height of His fame, He chose to take the road of shame in that service.
When the Creator kneeled to wash the dirty feet of His creation, He took away any claim to pride we might have.
When He looked into the eyes and hearts of sinners and still served them, healed them, and forgave them, He made our own condescension and disdain for others illegitimate.
When we embrace pride and fight humility, we elevate ourselves above our God.
If we insist on indulging our pride, we need to enjoy it while we can, for we have our reward.
I am in the book of 1 Samuel in my daily Bible reading. In chapter 16, we read where Samuel anoints David king to replace Saul.
This was a hard thing for Samuel to do. He loved Saul and when Saul sinned, Samuel mourned for him when God announced He was tearing the kingdom from his hand to give to another.
But Samuel was obedient to the Word of the Lord. He went to the sons of Jesse. When Eliab passed before Samuel, the prophet was sure he was looking at the Lord’s anointed. Eliab must have been a kingly specimen of a man.
But then we read one of the most well-known passages in 1 Samuel:
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV).
The ability of God to look upon the heart of a man is a two-edged sword for us. What a wonderful, comforting thing to know God sees our heart when man may make false accusations against us.
But at the same time, we may get pretty good at fooling people by hiding a bad heart while presenting something different for people to see.
Hypocrisy may bring us accolades from men, but God is not fooled. The same God who can lift us up in our humility can also bring us down in our pride.
Let us all spend time purifying our hearts before God. He sees all and will perfectly assess our hearts. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Those who humble their hearts before God find comfort that this will not go unnoticed by God. But those who harbor a bad heart will stand naked before the all-seeing eyes of God.