By Kortney Amy
“’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.’” ~John 13:34
(ESV)
Before my now-husband and I got married, we went to pre-marital counseling
with the pastor of our church. We had many sessions with him that all helped us
greatly in our relationship with each other and with God. One session in
particular however stands out in my mind. The pastor gave us homework. He
challenged us to each separately write down our top five needs from each other
in marriage and then to work on fulfilling those needs. We came back a week
later, and I will never forget what my then-fiancé wrote as his greatest need.
Love me like Jesus.
Wow. Talk about humbling. Here I thought I was loving him and showing my
love for him the best I could. Still he asks me to love him not as I, Kortney,
loves, but as Jesus, God Almighty loves. Thus began my journey towards greater
understanding of what it means to love like Jesus.
Loving like Jesus
means I must sacrifice my own comfort.
When Christ was born as a babe He left behind the glory of heaven to
live among humans as a human. When was the last time you stopped to think about
what that means? He left streets of gold for streets of dirt. He left the place
of no pain or tears or death for a place where we cannot go a single day
without coming face to face with pain and tears and death. He left the praise
of heaven for the scorn of earth. He chose this life, this world. More than
that, He chose to be the ultimate servant in this world. In the world He
created, and in which He deserved all praise and glory, He knelt before man and
preformed the lowliest duty of them all. He washed man’s feet.
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also
ought to wash one another's feet.” ~John 13:14 (ESV)
If the LORD of lords and King of kings can humble Himself in such a way,
then what gives me any right to do less? Instead of looking for ways I can
increase myself, I need to be pursuing ways to increase my husband, my parents,
my brother, my friends, my coworkers, anyone I may come into contact with. They
don’t even have to be big things. My husband has this habit of asking me to
grab him a glass of water just as soon as I have gotten comfortable on the
couch and have curled up in a blanket. We are on the same couch, the same
distance from the kitchen. He just as easily could get up, go into the kitchen,
and pour himself a glass of water. Besides, the water is for him, not me, so why
should I be the one to get up? Well, why not? What does it hurt me to get up
and get my husband a glass of water?
Do I seriously value the comfort of my blanket over the comfort I could bring
to another living, breathing human being? So get that glass of water, clear the
plates from the dinner table, make those cookies, run that errand with your
mom. Be more concerned with the comfort of others than the comfort of yourself.
Loving like Jesus
means I must surrender my need to play the martyr.
As Christians we are called to forgive others and extend grace to those
who do not deserve it. This is the foundation of our faith. So often though, we
do not grasp what forgiveness means, what forgiveness looks like. I always
thought I was the best at forgiving. I would never hold grudges. I never
brought things up from the past. In fact, there were few hurts that I
legitimately remembered. Until a time when my heart was hurt by someone I loved,
and suddenly I found myself unable to let it go. I struggled for months, and I
had no idea what to do. I loved this person, and yet, I couldn’t forget what
had happened.
God brought to my mind the story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman (John
4:4-42) and the story of Jesus with the adulteress woman (John 8:1-11). In both
stories Jesus is faced with a woman who has not left a past of sin but is
continually sinning. Yet, look at how He talks to them. He does not cry out or
accuse or succumb to hysterics. He speaks calmly. He also doesn’t accept the
sin. He tells the Samaritan woman straight out that she is living a life of sin
and that it is wrong. He doesn’t mince words. When the Pharisees are condemning
the adulteress woman, Jesus does not deny that she has sinned. Instead He
brings everyone down to the same level.
‘“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a
stone at her.”’ ~John 8:7 (ESV)
We all have sinned. How then can we condemn anyone else? I have been
hurt, but I have also hurt others. Haven’t we all been there? Haven’t we felt
the guilt? Felt the desperation to be forgiven? Felt the shame? We have all
fallen. What gives us any right to condemn someone God Himself chooses to
forgive?
Jesus died because of our sin, yet He never held it over our heads. We
get hurt, and we play the martyr. Jesus got hurt in every way even unto death.
If you are reading this, then the world has not killed you. Stop acting as if
it has. You are one hurting person in this world of hurting people. Forgiveness
is the only way out of the hurt on this earth.
Love me like Jesus.
We have officially entered the Christmas season. It’s amazing how fast
time flies! Many people will be hurting this Christmas. Whether it is missing
loved ones gone before or being alone or losing out on moments because of
unforgiveness. Thus is the broken world in which we live. Let us, however, do
our part in loving as our Savior does. Let this be the Christmas that we share
God’s love through serving all those around us and forgiving those who have
wounded us. Let us love like Jesus.
Kortney Amy is an x-ray tech and a newlywed who likes to write basically
anything on the side. She has dabbled in poetry, devotionals, and short
stories, and has dreams of eventually writing a book in the very distant
future. In her free time she loves to curl up on the couch with tea and a good
book next to her husband. She prays that God will be glorified in everything
she writes and that maybe He will use her work to touch one more person.
What is one way that you can strive to love others like Jesus
this Christmas season? Share in the comments!
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