Love
Like Jesus
By Brita Crouse
“A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another: just
as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will
know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John
13:34-35 (ESV, emphasis added)
I
recently read a book about a young woman (who’s not much older than I), who
“quit her life” and moved from America to the war-torn country of Uganda.
Katie, at twenty years old, became a mother to thirteen orphaned or abandoned
African girls. Here is a quote from her book and, as you will be able to tell,
Katie is a girl after God’s own heart.
“It’s just different when it’s your child who’s suffering. But should it be? ...I believe that this is a normal human reaction. I also believe it is wrong. I believe that every human being on this planet is God’s child, perfectly made and beloved and cherished by Him. I believe that His heart hurts...for each and every one of the hurting, dying, starving, crying children in our world. So I have to believe that if my heart was truly seeking to be aligned with the heart of God, that I would hurt for each of these children as well.” [1]
As I
read through the book, this quote in particular was especially convicting.
Katie writes that she is constantly surrounded by suffering, but she does not
hurt the same way for others as she does when it’s one of her girls who is
suffering. I’m not a parent, but I do feel more love toward some people than
others. Despite this human tendency, Jesus has commanded us, as His disciples,
to love just as He has loved.
I
think this is what Katie is alluding to: Jesus does not have favorites. His
love doesn’t depend on age, gender, ethnicity or social status. So, why does
ours?
It’s
not easy to love those who are different from us or those who treat us poorly,
but if we are Christ-followers, we are called to do just that. Jesus loved
Judas, His betrayer, no less than the other disciples. He spent time with His
persecutors. He healed the poor, sick and outcast.
Christ
says if we show love for one another, people will know we are His followers.
Think of how many people could experience Christ’s love if we, as His
disciples, unconditionally loved just like Jesus.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
Who can you start showing love to this week?
2.
Read John
13. Write down examples of how Jesus showed loved to others in this
passage.
FURTHER
READING:
[1]
Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie (Brentwood, TN: Howard Books, 2011),
221-222.
Brita recently graduated from Taylor
University with a degree in Psychology, and is currently a helper for Oakwood’s
Quest 56 and the Just Among Moms weekly childcare team.
