Sermon Archive
Loving Like Jesus Loves Me

LOVING LIKE JESUS LOVES ME

40 Days of Love
 
Good morning! We are in part four of 40 Days of Growth in Love. If you missed any of the first three messages, I highly recommend you go to the website & read those messages because I’m building each week on 40 days of growth in love. 
 
One of the best ways to learn anything is to learn by a model. When we see somebody else doing it we usually learn faster & quicker. Who is the best example for love? It’s Jesus Christ. Jesus was the only person with perfect love. 
 
In John 13 Jesus said, “I’m giving you a new commandment, love each other in the same way that I have loved you.” Notice the words“in the same way.” Jesus says, “I want you to love others the way I love you. 
 
Now, you can’t fully understand how to love other people until first you understand how much God loves you. It’s difficult to be gracious to others if you haven’t felt God’s grace. It’s difficult to be merciful to others if you haven’t felt God’s mercy. It’s difficult to love unless you understand how much God loves you. When you experience the indescribable love that God has for you, then it’s going to be a whole lot easier for you to love other people.
 
So, we’re going to look at two ways that Jesus loves you.
 
1st  I am to accept others the way Jesus accepts me.
 
Followers of Jesus ought to be the most accepting people in the world. I am guessing that the deepest wounds you’ve ever had in your life are the wounds of rejection. Maybe you’ve been betrayed. Maybe you’ve been belittled. Most people have experienced rejection in life. We spend most of our lives trying to avoid it. In fact, much of what we do is a combination of trying to be accepted by other people & trying to avoid rejection. 
 
Some people will do crazy things in order to be accepted. Remember when you were a kid & you were dared to do something you really didn’t want to do, but you also wanted to fit in? Someone would say “I dare you to do this.” And you really didn’t want to do it but more than anything else you didn’t want to be rejected. You wanted to be accepted. So you did it anyway.
 
The starting point in learning to love other people is you have to realize how much God accepts you. 
 
How does Jesus love you? John 6:37“The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me, & I will always accept them.” (NCV)  Jesus says: I will accept people who come to me.
 
Here at church we talk about accepting Jesus. You’ve probably heard this phrase “Have you accepted Jesus into your heart? I hope & pray that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior & Lord.  
 
Have you ever realized that he’s accepted you? Some people have accepted Jesus but never really feel accepted by Jesus. You feel like you never really fully measure up. 
 
Where that comes from is not from God. It comes from un-pleasable people. To some extent we have all grown experiencing conditional love. We learn love like, “I love you if… you do these things. Or I love you because… you do these things.” So we learn conditional love. 
 
But God says, “I love you! I don’t love you because of who you are but because of who I am. Not because of what you do, but because of what I’ve done. Not because of your conduct, but because of my character.” 
 
So we have to learn to love the way that God loves us. God says, I love you unconditionally.
 
Titus 3:7 “Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable. He made us acceptable to God & he gave us the hope of eternal life.”(CEV)  How does he make us acceptable? By his grace. He just says, “You’re acceptable.” It’s not that you changed. It’s not that you got any better. It’s not that you never sin. Jesus just says I’m going to make you acceptable by my grace. It’s not based on performance.
 
God wants you to do that with other people. But most people don’t know the difference between acceptance & approval. Very, very different. Jesus Christ loves & accepts you. But, that doesn’t mean he approves of everything you do. 
 
You can accept someone without approving of what they do. Without approving of their lifestyle, without approving of the way they’re living.
 
Jesus provides us with a good example. Some religious leaders, who were trying to trap Jesus, brought this woman who was caught in the act of adultery. It’s interesting they didn’t catch the guy. Usually, adultery involves two. But it says they caught the woman in the act of adultery. They bring her before Jesus & said, “This woman was caught cheating on her husband. The law says we should stone her, what do think we should do? “
 
Jesus looks at all of the accusers & says, “Ok, anybody who has never sinned, you get to throw the first stone.” And no one threw a stone, but they left the woman with Jesus.  
 
What is Jesus doing here? He’s giving acceptance, not approval. He didn’t approve of what she was doing. Jesus defended her dignity & says to the woman, “Where are your accusers?” And she says, “They’re all gone, Lord.” He says, “I do not condemn you. Go & sin no more.” 
 
Jesus didn’t approve of what she had been doing. But he did accept her. That’s what you & I need to do with other people. You don’t have to approve of everything people do. I don’t even approve of everything I do. But you do have to accept them. Why? Because that is what Jesus did.
 
God says, “I accept you. I love you. I created you. I sent Jesus to die for you. I chose you. I put my Spirit in you. You matter to me.” 
 
Here’s the point. What God does for you, he expects you to do for other people. God says I accept you unconditionally. I don’t approve of everything you do but I accept you unconditionally & I love you. And God says I want you to do that with people in your life. Romans 15:7 “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, then God will be glorified.” Jesus says, “Do for other people what I have done for you.” And God will be glorified! Never forget that our ultimate goal is not just to love, but to love so that God will be glorified!
 
How do we do that? Rom 15:1-3 ”….We must NOT just please ourselves. (We must fight against just pleasing ourselves.) We should help others do what is right & build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself.” 
 
When you are in the hospital it is easy just think about ourselves. One of the actions that I saw in my brother in law John was his thankfulness. Whenever a nurse or caregiver came into his room & did anything he would thank them. He would look at them & thank them.
 
Jesus loves us & he expects us to love people the same way he loves us. He wants us to treat others the same way he treats us. 
 
A second way to love…
 
2nd   I must forgive others like Jesus forgives me.
 
Some people think that God carries grudges. They think that God’s always mad at them & that God is looking for ways to get even. “God remembers what I did three weeks, or three months or three years or thirty years ago & now God’s getting even with me.” Is that really the way God acts? I don’t think so.
 
But some people think like this guy. One day his wife walked out on him, his kid got suspended from school for drugs, he got fired & he smashed his car. He gets out of his car & he looks up into heaven & he goes, “Why me, God? Why me? Why me?” He hears this voice from heaven that says, “Because some people just tick me off!” 
 
Is that the way God really responds to us? No! Isaiah 43:25“I am the God who forgives your sins… [not the God who is waiting to make you pay]  …& I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.” That’s who God is. God is a God who wants to forgive. God has done everything he can to forgive our sins in Christ.
 
In Eph 1:7 we read: “ In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, & so we have forgiveness of sins…” Jesus gave his life so that you & I can be forgiven. What a relief that we don’t have to pay for our own sins. Jesus Christ has paid for our sins. You & I are forgiven. 
 
Once we recognize that, that he’s forgiven us, we are to forgive other people. Colossians 3:13“You must make allowance for each other’s faults…[I hate it that the Bible says that. I want other people to make allowance for my faults but do you like it when you have to make allowance for other people’s faults.  It’s tough to do. But the Bible says make allowance for other people’s faults.] …..& forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (NLT)
 
When I receive forgiveness in my life then I’m able to give it to other people in their lives. I’m able to forgive others because I know that Jesus has forgiven me. 
 
You need to make Jesus Christ the most important person in your life & start filling your mind with what he says. That is the starting point for love. You can’t love others until you know how much God loves you. Ephesians 3:18 “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, & how deep God’s love really is.”
 
Prayer: Thank you for creating us. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for dying for us. Thank you Father that we matter to you. Help us to see ourselves the way you see us. We don’t understand it all but thank you for accepting us & forgiving us. Help us to see ourselves through your eyes of love. And help us to see others the same way. Amen”