Love Like Jesus.

Thursday, January 20, 2011
Love Like Jesus. I’ve been preaching for 13 years now, and been serving in ministry as either a Youth Pastor or Pastor for 9 of those years. The only reason I share that is simple: I’m a really, really slow learner. You would think that by now I would at least have begun to understand what this calling is about – that I would know what I’m supposed to do when people are hurting. Yet it seems like every day I’m reminded of just how much I don’t know.
We all face days when someone we love is living in a crisis, right? Maybe it’s a friend that’s going through a really hard breakup, or another friend that gets a terribly difficult diagnosis from the doctor. We see hurting people all around us every single day. And for those of us that serve in vocational ministry, you can multiply that daily. There are so many people that are hurting. Some of them are dealing with consequences of bad choices that are far steeper than they ever dreamed they’d be, yet some of them are dealing with consequences of simply being a human on planet earth. Either way, they’re hurting.
On a weekly basis there are folks in hospitals, funeral homes, jails, and hurting homes within the church family God has allowed me to serve in. And it always seems like I initially try to find answers to give them – like they expect me to know why all this has happened. Bro. Ben, my pastor who has been in the ministry for a little more than half a century and has far more knowledge and wisdom than I may ever possess, gets it. We don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions. We don’t have to know “Why.” We don’t – and we usually can’t. Man, there’s such a freedom in that.
We aren’t commanded to know all the “whys” or even the “hows.” Our job, whether you serve Him as a minister in a vocational way, or you are a believer living out your faith in your daily walk – is to love. It’s just that simple – love. Casting Crowns, my favorite group ever, has an awesome song that explains it all. “We don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions, just tell them He loves them, and stay by their side. And love them like Jesus.”
Loving like Jesus is simple, yet pretty complex at the same time. Much of this ministry of loving like Jesus is presence – being there. And by being there you’re saying to this hurting person, “I love you, I care, and I do enough to stand by you no matter what.” But I think the most important aspect of loving like Jesus is that we aren’t loving them for our own benefit. Jesus loved us when we had absolutely nothing to give Him in return. This is the kind of love He’s called us to give to others – totally selfless – totally unconcerned about what we’ll get back.
So today, stop trying to search for all the answers to the tough questions. It’ll drive you crazy. The truth is that most of what happens in this life can’t be understood by our human minds. All we have to understand is our role – to love. And when we begin to love like Jesus the world will see the difference He’s made in us, and they’ll want what we’ve got. Mark it down – it works, and people will be forever changed because of it. Love like Jesus today.


That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake

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