How can we love as Jesus loves?

Everyday people do their jobs knowing it could cost them their lives. We are protected by people, most of whom we will never know. Somewhere, right now, doctors have stepped away from their plans in order to use their talents to save a life. Missionaries are risking their safety to help someone know Jesus. There are people in our world who have given up their comforts for the sake of someone else.

The greatest love in this world is sacrificial love, which is loving someone else more than we love ourselves. Parents understand what it is to love their children more than their own lives. Pastors care more about a hurting church member than they do themselves. Friends know how to put their friends’ needs ahead of their own.

We understand what it means to love someone else as Jesus loves them. But only Jesus could truly love everyone like that.

As Christians, we are commanded to “love one another,” but, like every other command, it is impossible to obey apart from the power of God. We shouldn’t feel guilty when we realize we are unable to love others as Jesus loved them. Guilt defeats God’s purpose. Instead, we should recognize and admit that we can’t love as Jesus loved. We won’t ask for Jesus to fill us with his love if we think we can accomplish that ourselves.

The best way for us to love other people is to realize we can’t love them as Jesus loves them. We need to receive the love of Christ before we have it to give.

We can’t love our spouse as well as Jesus can love them through us.

We can’t love our children as unconditionally as Jesus can love them.

We can’t love our friends as sacrificially as Jesus would sacrifice for them.

We can’t love our enemies as we love ourselves. But Jesus can.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the model for our love and the source of the love we need to have for others. Jesus has the greater love. Through his love, we can lay down our lives for our friends.