Christ like love

Christ like love is one of the things that I strive for everyday, but fail to reach most of the time.  It's a hard thing, this kind of love.  How hard?  Lay down your life kind of hard.  Jesus literally gave His life for us.  Now this isn't exactly what Jesus asks us to do, it may be, but for most of us in everyday live, it something a little different.  The kind of love I'm talking about means laying down your life moment by moment for those God has put in your life.  Each moment, He is asking us to serve Him or serve ourselves by doing what our flesh desires.

Loving like Christ is hard.  It means putting the needs of others above the your own needs.  This is a completely inhuman thing to do. We were made to serve ourselves, and some would argue that everything we do has some benefit or motive that will serve us.  But I disagree.  I have seen this kind of love in action, and it one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

This past week, one of my friends lost someone they loved very much, and the Christ like love I witnessed in response reminded me that there is Hope in good times and bad.  I got to watch as people who love this girl dropped everything.  They laid down their lives to support and love exactly like Christ did.

This is exactly what Jesus was calling us to do in the Cross.  He bears our burdens, but He also asks us to lay down our lives and take up the burdens of those around us.  He asks us to forget ourselves and imitate Him.  He breaks our hearts for those suffering on this earth so that we may feel the pain and love He feels.  In the darkness that surrounds these burdens, there is pure love.  This love is one of our highest callings.