Week 188: To Love Like Jesus

Send us Fan Mail In John 15:11–13, Jesus speaks about joy, obedience, and love on the very night before He would lay down His life on the cross. That alone should make us stop and listen. Jesus tells His disciples that His joy can be in them and that their joy can be full. He calls them to keep His commandments—not to earn His love, but because they already abide in His love. And then He gives them one of the clearest pictures of what Christian love looks like: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus wasn't merely giving His disciples an illustration. He was describing the very thing He was about to do. Christ would lay down His life for sinners. In this episode, we look at what it means to obey Christ with joy, to love others sacrificially, and to follow the example Jesus has given us. We talk about loving those who have hurt us, forgiving those who have wronged us, and loving even those who disagree with us or live differently than we do. But ultimately, this isn't about trying harder to become more loving. It's about looking first at the love Christ has already shown us. He loved us while we were still sinners. He laid down His life for us. And because He has loved us, we can now love others. Come to Christ. Trust in Christ. Abide in Christ. And let His love shape the way you live. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” — John 15:12