As followers of Christ, we are called to live like Him and represent His love to everyone around us. We spread the Gospel not just through words, but through our actions and habits.
Let’s look at a few tangible examples from the gospels displaying how Jesus loved people and how we can imitate those same practices to the people God has placed in our lives.
He was present.
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but You can bring her back to life again if You just come and lay Your hand on her.” So Jesus and His disciples got up and went with Him. Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind Him. She touched the fringe of His robe, for she thought, “If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed.” Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment. – Matthew 9:18-22 NLT
In this story, Jesus is on His way to raise a girl from the dead when He’s interrupted by a woman touching His robe. Instead of ignoring her or promising to come back for her after He visits the girl, Jesus pauses His journey to be present with the woman.
When looking at these two emergencies—a young girl who has died and a woman with a physical illness—one of them probably seems more urgent than the other. We might imagine the father of the girl looking at Jesus and going, Hey, what about my daughter? Is that not more important right now than this woman? Hurry up!
But Jesus was so tuned in to the present moment. He had a deep awareness of both His physical surroundings and the unspoken needs of those He encountered. He wasn’t too busy or too distracted to notice how badly the woman needed Him.
One of the best ways we can demonstrate God’s love to others is to be present with them. Show up even when it’s inconvenient. Let interruptions be a doorway to connection. When someone you know—or someone you may not know!—is going through a hard time, sit with them without immediately trying to fix the problem. God always has time for His children, so let’s follow His example and make time for the people He puts in our path.
He prayed frequently.
“Now I am coming to You. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with My joy. I have given them Your Word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your Word, which is truth. Just as You sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give Myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by Your truth.” – John 17:13-19 NLT
It’s a mind-blowing truth that Jesus prayed to His Father for us—but He did! He regularly prayed for His current followers and all the followers to come.
Another way we can reflect God’s love to others is to pray for them. And not just in a vague, non-specific way, either. If you read all of John 17, you can see how detailed Jesus got in His prayer. He prayed that God would protect His followers, that they would be filled with His joy, know His word, be made holy, and that they would be unified in Christ.
Ask God to bring you people who need prayer. This could be your waitress at a restaurant, your child’s teacher, or a stranger you see in the grocery store who looks discouraged. Then, when you feel His prompting, ask the Holy Spirit for the boldness to obey and the proper words to pray.
When you’re praying for people, ask them about their individual needs. Don’t just say, “I’ll be praying for you,” and then go about your day. Stop what you’re doing and pray for them right there in the moment. There may be times when a friend or family member is going through such a hard time that they don’t have the words or the strength to pray themselves; this is when you have the privilege of stepping in and supporting them in prayer.
He forgave generously.
As He was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do You say?”...“Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then He stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” – John 8:3-11 NLT
Forgiveness is one of the hardest parts of the Christian walk. For most of us, grace and mercy are not our primary dispositions. When someone hurts us, we feel justified in being angry, holding grudges, or cutting them out of our life. And our culture encourages this way of thinking! More and more often in recent years, we’re being encouraged to hold onto anger—and even find empowerment in it. From that lens, forgiveness is, at best, a sign of weakness and, at worst, a condonement of harmful behavior.
But if we are to live like Jesus and be an example of His love in the world, we must push back against a refusal to forgive. We must show mercy generously, even when it’s hard and seems completely counterintuitive to do so.
We only need to look at what Jesus did for us on the cross to be reminded of the mercy we ourselves didn’t deserve. With full knowledge of every sinful thing we would ever do, Jesus chose to die so we would have the chance to be reconciled to God. He looked at the woman caught in adultery—a woman who the law said deserved stoning—and instead of condemnation, offered her grace.
There is perhaps no better way to exemplify God’s love than to replicate His greatest act of love for us. It takes tremendous strength and humility to forgive those who have harmed us. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is possible.
