“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5.1-2)
Jesus taught us how to love by the way He lived. The impact of His love is so powerful that imitations of His love appear in great literature and in the lives of His followers. Even the world, who does not know Him or want to acknowledge Him, admires the sacrificial love of Jesus. In 2 Peter 1, we are encouraged to add this type of love to our faith and abound in it more and more. The best way to increase the love of Christ is to reflect on how He demonstrated love and then strive to imitate it every single day.
Although the scripture writing plan for this month is hardly comprehensive on this subject, the aim is to highlight some of the aspects of Christ’s love. The love of Jesus does the following:
- It Serves: Jesus emptied Himself in order to serve those in front of Him with love. His aim was not people-pleasing but rather God-pleasing.
- It Shows Compassion: Compassion is defined as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it” (Merriam-Webster). Jesus often reached out to those in distress and healed, fed, or taught, as the situation demanded.
- It Teaches the Truth: Real love is willing to point out the hard things. Instead of telling people what they wanted to hear, Jesus confronted them with what they needed to hear. As a result, those with honest hearts were transformed.
- It Forgives: When you consider how often and how much Jesus forgives you–one of those whose sins made His suffering necessary–how can you fail to do likewise? We do not deserve His forgiveness, yet He gives it to us… over and over again.
- It Sacrifices: Jesus left heaven for a time in order to come to earth, show us the Father, and suffer a horrific persecution and death. All of this He did in order to rescue us from an eternity of separation from God. In addition, He often sacrificed His own needs while on earth in order to serve.
- It Loves… even when it’s hard: Jesus loved even those who hated Him. He loved us while we were enemies. He forgives us, even when we mess up the same way repeatedly.
As you consider each section this month, examine the quality of your own love. How do you serve? Do you show compassion? Do you teach the hard truths? Do you forgive as you have been forgiven? Do you sacrifice like Jesus? Do you love your enemies? Jesus calls us to become like Him, which means we must learn to love as He has loved us.
If you’d like to print a copy of this month’s scripture writing plan, click the link below:
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Previous October plans:
- Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak (2025)
- …But God (2024)
- The Effective Prayer (2023)
- Lessons from the Wilderness (2022)
- Arise & Build: Nehemiah (2021)
- Witness of God’s Faithfulness (2020)
- The Light (2019)
Visit the Elihu’s Corner page on Facebook or Instagram (@elihuscorner). Stop by and say hello! Bring your questions and comments! Although I have been unable to post as regularly due to some recent life changes, I do try to post several times each week. Please, come to share your insights on the day’s passage and encourage others.
Special thanks to Liz Smith and Sara McBroom, my dear sisters in Christ and fellow workers, who help me with these plans each month.
