I want to be genuinely loved by others, and I’m sure you do, too. Having someone help you with no strings attached, or dropping everything to come to your rescue, are acts that you will never forget. Somebody who loves you “just because” is what we all want, and you should strive to give that to others, too.
The only way you can truly experience this is through Jesus, in his love toward you. In order to show this love to others, you have to learn how to love like Jesus.
He just loves you; nothing can change that. You can give this love when you know his love for you and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit within you.
What Does It Mean To Love Like Jesus?
You must first know how Jesus loved if you want to love others like he does. Jesus Christ showed us how to love others.
He remained constantly connected to the Father because he knew he could do nothing on his own strength. You also need to stay in communion with God, relying on him.
You need to relinquish control to him and know his love is the best love. You need to be confident in his love and always remember that it was poured out into you.
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NIV)
Feel secure in the depth of his love for you and let his love flow out of you. Don’t stop the Spirit from flowing through you by giving in to fear, doubt or insecurity, or by how others have loved you.
You are a new creation and his love is now the love you have to offer.
How To Love Others
If you want to learn how to be like Jesus, you can learn how he loved others in the Bible. It gives an account of how he loved when he came down to earth as a human.
He loved by not being selfish. He put others’ needs and wants before his own. He lived a surrendered life, pursuing what God wanted him to do and didn’t care whether things were inconvenient for him.
He was mission minded and focused on living to please God, not others. He did everything to glorify God; his love was not based on personal gain.
How to love one another best is modeled by him and you should study his life.
How To Love Like Jesus
As you study the life of Jesus, you will learn that loving is a choice. It takes intent on our part; giving out his unconditional love requires that you remove any hindrances that are preventing his love from flowing through you.
Fear from the past, insecurity, or feeling incapable are some of them. You must surrender it all to Jesus, heal from past wounds of how you were (or weren’t) loved, and forgive others, too.
Be confident that his love is within you and that you are a new creation. This is how to be like Jesus, by loving.
How you saw or experienced love growing up—maybe not having a good example—doesn’t matter, because his love is within you. You can feel secure in that and know that you are deeply loved by Jesus.
His love for you is your foundation now: he is your new example to follow. You are never not loved by him. Knowing that allows your heart to know you were always loved.
He will always love you well and has the best for you. Below you will find 3 examples of how to love like Jesus.
1. Be Selfless to Love Like Jesus
Jesus was selfless. He denied himself to love others. He didn’t think about what he wanted or pursue his desires.
He was born in a manger and he speaks about not having a place to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20) It wasn’t always a life of convenience… and some of those closest to him betrayed him, but he still loved them.
His greatest act of love was dying on the cross. It wasn’t easy to have to do this.
Jesus can understand our human struggle with letting go of our wants and doing what the Father wants us to do, as demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane: “He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’” (Matthew 26:39 NLT)
Following the will of God means we need to let go of our wants, hold them loosely and give them to him, knowing that we might not get what we want… but it is the best for us.
Before you pursue something, give it to Jesus and ask his will to be done, not your own. This is loving God and allowing you to walk in selflessness.
If you can be selfless with God, this will allow you to be selfless with others. You can practice this by denying yourself to help others before doing the things you want to do. Do things that might not always be of interest to you in order to love them.
How does God want us to love others? Put yourself out there to help others when they need it.
2. Accept Others As They Are
Jesus accepted others as they were. He communed with everyone, no matter what others thought.
We see this in Mark 2:15-16: “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” (NIV)
He loved all people and knew the way to change them was to show them his love. That is how they would become saved: by knowing and experiencing his true love, which accepts all as they are.
Jesus’ example shows us not to judge others for their sins and to leave judgment up to him. It shows us to just love others and allow his love to change them. Showing his love is our job; we should leave the rest to him.
Don’t judge others, or gossip about their faults. Just accept them and love them. Get to know them over a meal, like Jesus did. Listen to them and learn about their life. Become friends with them and show them his love.
You can do this by seeing people as Jesus does. Pray for this mindset and be open to building relationships with the nonbelievers he calls you to.
3. Be Present
Jesus was present when engaging with others. This is seen throughout his whole ministry.
He listened to others and their stories, like the woman at the well. He wept with others, felt sorrow, and had compassion, as he did with Lazarus.
He shared wisdom and was not distracted. He wouldn’t have been multitasking when in the presence of others; on his cell phone and having a conversation at the same time.
He gave his time and his complete attention to others. He valued the individual so much and would do anything for them.
We see this in the parable of the lost sheep: “Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?’” (Luke 15:3-4 NIV)
This was the depth of his love for others and how he showed it. That he would sacrifice it all just for the one.
Are you focused on just loving the person God put in front of you? You can show others his love by engaging well with that one person. Giving them your full attention and really, actively listening.
Show them how important and loved they are by Jesus. Jesus loves you individually and sees you as you are. Show others the same love as he shows you.
You must strive to know how to love like Jesus. It is the the best love to give others. You can do this by following his example of striving to be selfless, accepting others as they are, and being present.
