John 13:34-35 “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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I was sitting at my church’s young adult study thinking about the intense love that Jesus has for us.
in∙tense: adjective of extreme force, degree, or strength.
I heard this phrase about love during the church study: Powerfully loved people, love people powerfully
We talked a bit about what it means to love others and what Jesus did for us. I couldn’t help but imagine the scene in the passion of the Christ where Jesus is chained to the whipping post, broken, bloodied and bruised. Jesus did this for US… Super intense! Seriously gnarly stuff, dudes! If we are to love like Jesus loves, that means we think of others before ourselves. We sacrifice our comforts and desires and put others before us. Maybe this means we don’t get first chair because one of your homies can’t make it up that early, letting someone take that first run in the park even though your itching or stopping to buy that homeless dude a pizza. We know how much Jesus suffered through the crucifixion, but how much suffering are we willing to endure in order for Jesus to be seen through us? The second half of that passage is where the meat really is! I can sit in my comfortable church and say “Jesus!” all day long, but if we don’t go out and live out the love that Jesus has for us, how effective can we be as Jesus’ disciples? It’s not gonna be easy, but Jesus doesn’t guarantee us 5 star service, in fact he warns us that we will probably be hated because of him. The raddest baddest part is that he gave us the Holy Spirit. He is with us no matter where we find ourselves. That is some extreme love Jesus has for us!
Challenge
This coming week, pray about someone who you can show the love Jesus has for them. Maybe you already have someone in mind or someone who you’ve been talking to about where they are spiritually. The greatest loving act we can do for someone is to share Jesus.
Who can I show some love to this week?
Is there someone I know who may not know Jesus personally that I can share with?
How can I powerfully love people better?
By Sam Torres | Denver, CO