The Way of JesusSample

Love That Looks Like Jesus

So, what does it look like, practically, to really love people? To embrace the ethic of the Kingdom of Heaven? Look at the way Jesus lived. He was the embodiment of love and the bringer of hope. And there were some practices that marked His life, and mark ours as Kingdom people.

1. We reject the temptations of self-protection and self-promotion.

Really loving people is a risk. Jesus shows us that we can’t be consumed with protecting our image and think we’re reflecting His image at the same time. It doesn’t work that way. Really loving people like Jesus means opening yourself up to the potential of betrayal. Think about the intentional way Jesus served and loved Judas over the course of three years. He walked with him, empowered him as a leader, was incredibly vulnerable with him, and served him. Jesus got down on His knees and washed the feet of the same man who was about to stab Him in the back and send Him to the grave. Clearly, Jesus wasn’t about protecting His image—He was showing us the perfect image of God. A God who, from the very beginning, in the greatest act of vulnerability, gave us the ability to choose. Which means, we could choose to betray Him. And we’re called to love others with this same level of vulnerability and selflessness. 

2. We embrace those we may be tempted to dismiss.

 Again, Jesus modeled this so well. He spent the most time with a bunch of fishermen. He announced His identity to a Samaritan woman. He habitually shared meals with tax collectors. He healed the servant of a Roman soldier. The list goes on. Paul sums up Jesus’ crew saying:

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 NIV

Who is it easy for you to dismiss? Is it your little brother who drives you nuts? Maybe a group of kids at school you’ve alway thought were kind of odd? That one girl you’ve always judged because of what she posts on TikTok? It may be someone who believes something different than you or leans a different way politically. We embrace them. Yes, them. 

3. We forgive those who have it out for us.

This is another example of Jesus’ radical way of loving people. Hanging on a Roman cross between two criminals, beaten and abandoned, a crown of thorns on His head, the words that come out of Jesus’ mouth are, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV). This is the Word, the Logos of God, by which the universe came to be. Jesus could have opened His mouth, said anything, and it would have happened! And when He looked down from the cross, He didn’t see a group of people the world would deem worthy of what He was doing. He saw people who had denied Him, abandoned Him, and betrayed Him. Everything in our culture would say, Dude, bounce! These people aren’t worth it! They don’t deserve it. They’ve betrayed you and you have every right to turn your back on them. But in the greatest act of love in history, He stayed on the cross. He forgave the people who had it out for Him. He willingly laid down His life for us when we were His enemies. 

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10 NIV

The code of the Kingdom is radical love. A love that pursues reconciliation, rejects self-centeredness, embraces the unlovable, and forgives the unforgivable. It’s not easy—it moves toward our enemies. It stays when everyone else leaves. It’s a love that looks like Jesus.