To Love Jesus Well

To love Jesus well means to follow his example, to represent him well, to honor him in everything I say and do. It means to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world.

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 John 4:5-6

To Love Jesus Well Means Obedience

To love Jesus well means to obey when it’s hard, to give —not what is easy, but what costs me something. Few of us will be called to die for the sake of Christ. However, every day we meet people who don’t know Jesus, we come across those who hurt and struggle. Obedience is when I love Jesus enough to sacrifice for his sake. 1 John 2:5-6 says, “But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

He was our example. The Son of God, who was himself God, refused to use that position to his advantage during the time he walked on the earth. Instead, Jesus was a servant. “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8)

Jesus showed his love for me when he bore my sin and died  for me on the cross. But I have a cross as well. Luke 9:23-24 tells us, “‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’” My task is to discover what taking up my cross daily looks like in my life, and do it.

To obey Jesus means to offer him he things that cost me most, those things I cling to most tightly. The sins, habits, distractions, or selfish desires that keep me from Jesus, he calls on me to sacrifice. To obey means to willingly lay down my life for Jesus, whatever he asks me to do.

To Love Jesus Well Means Loving Others Well

The way people recognize me as a follower of Christ is by the way I show love. Recently, a friend shared with me how she had been hurt by someone who claimed to be a Christian serving actively in their church. However, when an opportunity arose to show love to her, they failed.

John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  The lyrics to an old song that still rings true said, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

To love Jesus well means that I see each person I come across as someone Jesus loved and died for. The drug addict sleeping on the sidewalk, the neighbor who complains about everything, the boss I can’t seem to please, are all loved by Jesus. Do I show love to them?

John writes, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12) How can I give a glimpse of Jesus to the people I come across today?

To Love Jesus Well Means I Serve Others

When the other disciples discovered that James and John had asked Jesus to allow one to sit on his right and one on his left, they were angry. Jesus reminded them of how the rulers of the Gentiles lorded it over them. He explained that it was not to be like that with them.

Jesus said, “‘Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:43-45) I love Jesus well by giving my life for him.

Everyone is out for themselves, working to gain power, position, and popularity. Jesus tells me to be different. He explained what it takes to receive honor from God. He said, “‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.’” (John 12:26)

Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. He touched lepers and healed them. He went willingly to the cross. To love Jesus well means I go willingly into the places he went. I offer myself as a servant to the people he served when he walked this earth.

To Love Jesus Well Means Sacrifice

To love Jesus well means sacrifice, and sacrifice costs. I must set aside my wants and needs in order to minister to the people God places in my life. The people and circumstances that I never wanted in my life. The hard situations I wish would just go away. The things that cost me most to do, I am to wholeheartedly embrace in the name of Jesus. I am to give my all, my love, and my life to accomplish what Jesus would have done if he was in my place right now.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13