Love others as Jesus loved us
Previously (https://tjc.sg/en/read/whats-your-love-language) we asked the question of what our love language toward God is, and how He wants us to show our love toward Him. However, we know that love has a further dimension – before Jesus told His disciples how to love Him, He told them this:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (Jn 13:34-35)
As Jesus’ disciples today, we are to emulate His love to all we interact with, and we should be compelled to do so because He first loved us through laying down His life on the cross (1Jn 3:16, 4:19). Paul goes on further to say that all that we do must be done with love (1Cor 16:14), meaning that our lives must be an outpouring of the impartial love of God to save souls and a full dedication to Him to fulfil this purpose.
This is contrary to the world’s view that we should treat others dependent on how they treat us. Often people think that if someone has been bad towards them, they should find a way to ‘get even’, even going so far as to take revenge. However, as Christians we are held to a higher standard by God. No matter how unjust the situation we may find ourselves in, we are taught to not only love our enemies, but also go the extra mile for them.
This concept of going the extra mile is rooted in Roman customs. Soldiers had the right to force citizens to carry their military gear for one mile. Since this was a legal obligation, civilians could not object to this request and so had to fulfil their duty. However, Jesus then goes on to say we should go the extra mile (Mt 5:40-41). Going the first mile shows that you are a good, law-abiding citizen, but going the extra mile shows your genuine heart of love – that in spite of unfair circumstances, you use good to overcome evil.
How can we go the ‘extra mile’ in our life of service?
We know that one of the ways we can show love to others is through serving – one of its core purposes is to channel the love of God to others for mutual edification and exhortation so their soul can be saved. However, it is not enough to just go through the motion of doing the work. We must consider the following things when we are serving.
Firstly, examine your mindset. It does not matter how much you do, or how visibly you do it, but whether love is truly your motive. (1Cor 13:1) mentions brass and cymbals, two important instruments in a musical band. BUT if they do not have a conductor, a rhythm to follow, their ‘music’ just becomes noise. Likewise today, we may have certain gifts, but if love is not the ‘rhythm’ to which we fulfil our service, our works will not be effective. The first mile in service is fulfilling your duty, but going the extra mile requires us to have the mindset to sacrifice more – thinking ‘what more can I do?’ beyond the responsibilities entrusted to us already so that the church can be edified and the love of God can be channelled to more people.
Secondly, we must become a faithful servant of Christ through humbling ourselves and ‘limiting’ our freedom. We are often reminded that we must follow Christ’s example, and in (Mt 20:25-28) He reminds us His purpose of coming to earth: to serve all mankind. Thus He instructs His disciples to become servants and slaves. Today we must do the same. We must ask for God’s help to become humble and to align ourselves with His standards, for while the world views servants as having a lowly status, God views this status as honourable, and if they have done their duty they will be found faithful on judgement day. Dedicating our lives to serve God is a form of freedom, and if we serve with love, we can overcome the pain or judgement others inflict on us during our ministry, for this is how Jesus endured the pain of the cross.
‘For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.’ (Gal 5:13)
Reflection questions:
When someone has wronged us, how do we react? Do we remember that we should show love to them by praying for them and blessing them, leaving vengeance to the Lord? (Mt 5:44, Rom 12:19)
Is the love of God to save souls the motive behind all things you do? Think about your daily actions, your interactions with others and your service.
What does it look like to lower yourself to be a servant to all mankind? How can you live this out in your life today?
