Over the course of the pandemic, we watched and worshiped with several congregations over the United States. On one particular Lord’s day, we worshiped with Kingwood here in town and Green Lawn in Lubbock, TX. Both Brother Jeff Brown and Brother Dale Mannon had the same message: LOVE LIKE JESUS.
That afternoon, Jody decided it was time to install a basketball goal in the barn. The directions said it took four capable adults to lift it and secure it into the concrete. So, his interpretation included the thought that 4 capable adults included himself, Jackson, me, and a tractor. Needless to say, I had to put into practice authentic service that day LOVE LIKE JESUS with Patience. Forgiveness. And even some sternness :).
A question came from that scenario: What would the world look like if we truly LOVED LIKE JESUS?
Mark 5: 21-43 paints a beautiful picture of this for us.
A summary of the text: Here, we have Jesus crossing in a boat over to Capernaum with a multitude sitting around him. Jarius, a ruler or leader in the synagogue came and fell at His feet. He begged Jesus to come and heal His daughter. And so Jesus went with the man to heal his daughter. On the way, a woman who had a horrible health issue for twelve years fished through the crowd to touch Jesus’s garments. If she could just touch Him. She did. She was healed. Later on, Jesus continued to Jarius’s house to heal his daughter as well.
There are TWO lessons we can learn from this story.
YOU must LOVE JESUS
YOU must LOVE LIKE JESUS.
One of those lessons is YOU. YOU must LOVE JESUS before you can LOVE LIKE JESUS.
He wants YOU to be authentic in your faith. He KNOWS your heart. He knows how authentic you are being in the world more than you know yourself. He knows if your intentions are fake and phony. He knows if your intentions are for self. He knows if you are putting on a show. He knows if you are living life as you love Him completely.
In this particular set of scriptures, we have two people here at opposite ends of the spectrum in society. You have a leader in the synagogue with Jarius and a woman who was considered an outcast or unclean. But they have something in common–their faith was authentic. They knew they needed Jesus. Do you?
Once you know you need Him and your worth comes from Him, you start living for Him. You start LOVING LIKE HIM. Living for Him involves THEM. You want others to know this kind of love–the only one that can come from God that gave His Son for you so that you can have life.
You start living for Him and following Jesus’s example while here on Earth. He LOVED people. He loved people not because of what they can do for Him while walking the Earth as a man, but because He wanted what was best for them. Jesus came here for us when he did not have t and suffered a cruel death so that you could have life. Jesus could have easily been irritated that He was interrupted by a leader of a synagogue to go and help His daughter…instead, He went. No complaining. Jesus could have been irritated that a woman came and touched His clothing–especially since she was considered unclean among the people. He wasn’t. As a matter of fact, He called her DAUGHTER. Told her to go in peace. He loved them enough to go out of His way to heal. He loved them enough that it did not matter the ridicule He would face because of societal standards.
Do you LOVE JESUS so much that you LOVE LIKE JESUS?
Let us put the Mark 12:30-31 command into practice.
Anchored to Him,
Leigh Ann
