Paradise Calvary Chapel

Love Like Jesus

I have to admit that when it comes to social media I am not completely “down with the times.” If I am being honest I mostly use it for selfish reasons such as posting extremely adorable pictures of my kids and then waiting to see how many people tell me how adorable they are. But, from time to time I will take a moment to scroll through my Facebook feed. Sometimes there are different ads, sometimes there are news articles, or all the political jargon, but what breaks my heart the most is all the hate that I see. There is so much sadness, pain, anger, hurt, bitterness, un-forgiveness, self-righteousness and the list goes on and on. When social media first began it was for the most part used to keep people connected in a fabulous new way. Now, what I see is people using social media as a platform to say whatever they want, to speak their minds and give their opinions no matter who they hurt or offend. They say what they want to because it’s their right. It’s true! We do have a right to speak out. But as Christians, how are we speaking out? We are held to a higher standard. We are to be in this world but not of this world. We actually have an obligation to speak out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ in love! The Scriptures say that the world will know that we are Christians by our love! “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” (John 13:34-35). I have four kids and coincidentally, just as they learn from me, I learn a great deal from them. It is those moments of discipline and correction that I actually need to take a look at my own heart. One question that I consistently ask my kids is this, “What would Jesus do?” As soon as this question is asked my kids immediately stop and think, then most times—not every time—they are able to respond to the situation the way Jesus would. This is so simple, yet so difficult for us to do. Well here is the answer: Jesus always responds in love!  While we are here on earth we are to be ambassadors for Christ, a representation of who He is. God is love! Are we representing Him well? Are we loving people the way He loves? No matter what?! This world is ugly. People are hurting. People need love. People need to know and feel and believe the love of Christ. As Christians we need to be showing the love of Christ in all that we say and do. Let’s ask ourselves: “What would Jesus do?”