Loving Like Jesus Loves

Sometimes I long to love as Jesus loved and loves.  Have you noticed his love?  He loves the strangest assortment of people.  He loved John the beloved disciples (maybe a little egotistical, too, since that designation shows up in the gospel that bears his name).  He loved Judas the betraying disciple (though not the only one to betray.  He loved his mother and he loved the woman caught in the act of adultery.  He loved those who loved him and those who did not.  He loved his enemies and still does.  He even loves you.

Well, maybe I don’t want to love as Jesus loves.  It’s one thing to love someone who loves you back or even to love someone you hope will return the love; but loving enemies is a different matter.  Oh, the enemy, the guy who done me wrong, who gets his just deserts, apologizes, and comes around to my way of seeing, him I might love; but the rest . . . ? 

Jesus set some high standards.  Were we all to rise to them, the world would be a better place.  Such a world just might be the answer to the prayer Jesus taught: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Until such time, loving as Jesus loves will always mean taking risks.  Some who are loved will not love back.

So, how about your stepping up to the love challenge?  If it works out okay for you, I might follow your example.  Until then, I’m going to live in the real world . . . the world in which one had better be on guard lest love offered gets trampled underfoot.

Oh, the real world!  That is one of the problems with Jesus.  Not only does he set high standards, he lived high standards . . . lived them in the real world that routinely trampled love underfoot, including the love with which God loved the world.  It was the Jesus accused of being demonic who urged love even for enemies.  It was the Jesus accused of blasphemy who urged love even for enemies.  It was the Jesus dying on the cross who prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

In the real world, those who follow Jesus are called to a higher standard.  Love is not reserved for those who love us.  In Jesus’ name, it is extended across the board to all.

. . . But how is it possible?  Love God . . . obey God’s commandments . . . .  In so doing, perhaps we become more like God . . . more capable of loving as the Son of God loved the world even though it robbed him of his life.