Fully Devoted: An Introduction预览

What Does It Look Like to Love Others As Jesus Loves Us?

Jesus revealed His love to us as a servant. He never used His divinity for His own good. Instead, He dedicated everything that He had to the good of others. And that’s what He has called us to do—to move past the temptation to elevate ourselves, and instead, find opportunities to serve others.

Shortly before going to the cross, Jesus sat down with His disciples for a final meal. This has become known as the Last Supper. At this meal, Jesus did something that would have shocked His disciples:

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:2-5 NIV

Jesus—who knew that the Father had put all things under His power—never allowed the power of His position to prevent Him from having the posture of a servant. So even in His final hours, He wrapped a towel around His waist, got down on His knees, and washed the feet of His disciples.

Even though He had all the power on the planet, He lowered Himself to the position of a servant. And in doing so, He gave us a beautiful example to follow.

As Christ followers, our calling is to reject the temptations of status, wealth, and power. Instead, we should choose to serve and lift up the least, the last, and the lost. Our calling is to put the needs of others before our own desires.

While this way of living can feel unrealistic, we know that the way of Jesus is the most real thing there is. So, we too are to be molded and formed by the servant-hearted and others-first life of Jesus.

Where can we start? Let these choices mark your life and you will grow as a person who lives and loves like Jesus.

1. We reject the temptations of self-protection and self-promotion.

Really loving people is a risk. Jesus shows us that we can’t be consumed with protecting our image and think we’re reflecting His image at the same time. It doesn’t work that way. Really loving people like Jesus means opening yourself up to the potential of betrayal. Think about the intentional way Jesus served and loved Judas over the course of three years. He walked with him, empowered him as a leader, was incredibly vulnerable with him, and served him. Jesus got down on His knees and washed the feet of the same man who was about to stab Him in the back and send Him to the grave. Clearly, Jesus wasn’t about protecting His image—He was showing us the perfect image of God. A God who, from the very beginning, in the greatest act of vulnerability, gave us the ability to choose. Which means, we could choose to betray Him. And we’re called to love others with this same level of vulnerability and selflessness.

2. We embrace those we may be tempted to dismiss.

Again, Jesus modeled this so well. He spent the most time with a bunch of fishermen. He announced His identity to a Samaritan woman. He habitually shared meals with tax collectors. He healed the servant of a Roman soldier. The list goes on. Paul sums up Jesus’ crew saying:

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 NIV

Who is it easy for you to dismiss? Is it your little brother who drives you nuts? Maybe a group of kids at school you’ve always thought were kind of odd? That one girl you’ve always judged because of what she posts on TikTok? It may be someone who believes something different than you or leans a different way politically. We embrace them.

3. We forgive those who have it out for us.

This is another example of Jesus’ radical way of loving people. Hanging on a Roman cross between two criminals, beaten and abandoned, a crown of thorns on His head, the words that come out of Jesus’ mouth are, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV). This is the One with all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus could have opened His mouth, said anything, and it would have happened! And when He looked down from the cross, He didn’t see a group of people the world would deem worthy of what He was doing. He saw people who had denied Him, abandoned Him, and betrayed Him. Everything in our culture would say, “Dude, bounce! These people aren’t worth it! They don’t deserve it. They’ve betrayed you and you have every right to turn your back on them.” But in the greatest act of love in history, He stayed on the cross. He forgave the people who had it out for Him. He willingly laid down His life for us when we were His enemies.

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10 NIV

The code of the kingdom is radical love. A love that pursues reconciliation, rejects self-centeredness, embraces the unlovable, and forgives the unforgivable. It’s not easy, but it moves toward our enemies. It stays when everyone else leaves. It’s a love that looks like Jesus.

Journaling Questions

• Consider the original audience who heard and experienced Jesus. What do you think it would have been like to hear that God’s Chosen One had been crucified on a Roman cross? How do you think you would have responded?
• Write down one of the verses from today’s reading. Do you find it difficult to love people as Jesus does? Why?
• What would help you better show Jesus’ love to others?

Memory Verse

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 NIV