Jesus was once asked what the greatest commandment was. We see His answer in John 13: 34-35.  It 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”.  We see clearly from this verse we are to love one another just as Jesus loved us.  But to understand this we first need to explore the question “What does Jesus’ love look like?”

The love of Jesus is unconditional, self-sacrificial and servant-hearted.  

1. THE LOVE OF JESUS IS UNCONDITIONAL

We see His unconditional love demonstrated in how he reached out and spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.  You can’t underestimate how revolutionary this was at the time.  Jewish men did not just speak to women publicly in the culture of that time and certainly not to a Samaritan.  The Samaritans were vehemently despised by the Jews.  Yet despite this Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well that day and her life was forever changed.

2. THE LOVE OF JESUS IS SELF-SACRIFICIAL

We see that His love is self-sacrificial.  Jesus demonstrated this to us by choosing to give up His life for us.  He died an unimaginable death full of excruciating pain because we needed redemption from our sins.  It was His love for us that led Him to the cross and He showed that love with action.

3. THE LOVE OF JESUS IS SERVANT-HEARTED

And finally, we see that the love of Jesus is servant-hearted.  An example of this is how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper.  To understand the significance of this we need to understand that this task was normally given to the lowest of servants.  That Jesus took it upon Himself to do this is a powerful illustration that He is servant-hearted.

When we look at the love of Jesus our first response may be that to love like this is impossible.  And yes if we try to do this with our own efforts it is impossible.  But there are two important truths to remember here.  Firstly, we can’t give what we haven’t received.  So we need to understand and receive God’s unconditional for us.  It is from this place of receiving God’s love for ourselves that we are able to give it to others.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit lives within us and as we grow deeper in our relationship with God we will grow too in the fruits of the Spirit and these will start to be evident in our lives.  And the result of this will be that we will be able to love others as Jesus loves us.

Let’s go deeper in God this week and love others with His indescribable love!