### **Introduction**
Video Ill.: Sermon Bumper - Shortened Music Lyric Video - Less Like Me by Zach Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hawc0emHq8c
The last two weeks, we have been walking through a short series called Less Like Me: More Like Jesus, inspired by Zach Williams’ powerful song.
In week one, we talked about humility — learning to say with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” We saw that the problem of “self” is one of the biggest obstacles in our walk with God — pride, control, and the desire for recognition — and the solution is surrender. When we let Jesus fill us, we begin to reflect Him more clearly to the world.
Last week, we turned to mercy — mercy that sees people the way Jesus sees them, mercy that moves us to act, and mercy that reflects the very heart of God. We were challenged not to be like the priest and Levite who passed by the man on the road to Jericho, but to be like the Good Samaritan — to stop, to see, to help, to show mercy.
And today, we turn to love — the culmination of both humility and mercy. Love is what drives both humility and mercy.
But love like Jesus is not what comes naturally to the world around us.
'One Another's' You Can't Find in the New Testament
Source: Ray Ortlund, "'One Another's' I Can't Find in the New Testament," The Gospel Coalition blog (5-24-14)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2014/october/5102714.html
Copied from Preaching Today
Pastor Ray Ortlund puts it this way:
“The kind of God we really believe in is revealed in how we treat one another. The lovely gospel of Jesus positions us to treat one another like royalty, and every non-gospel positions us to treat one another like dirt. But we will follow through horizontally on whatever we believe vertically.”
And then he gives a list of “one-anothers” you will never find in the New Testament:
Sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, judge one another, run one another's lives, confess one another's sins, intensify one another's sufferings, point out one another's failings …
Sadly, that is how the world too often operates — criticizing, shaming, judging, running each other down.
But Jesus calls us to something radically different.
In John 13, Jesus says to His disciples:
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13, NIV1984)
Did you catch that? Notice what Jesus said about how the world will know we are His disciples. The one thing that would prove to the world that we belong to Him is not our church attendance, not our theology, not our programs, not our social media posts — it is our love for one another.
If we are going to live “less like me and more like Jesus,” we must love the way Jesus loved.
This morning, let’s explore three ways our love should look like Jesus’ love.
### **I: Love Acts First**
Jesus does not call us to love in theory, but to love in action — and to take the first step.
Romans 5:8 reminds us:
8 … God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5, NIV1984)
God did not wait for us to clean up our act, or to get it all together, or to somehow earn His affection. He loved us first — and that love moved Him to send His Son.
Too often we wait for others to earn our love — to apologize first, to make the first move, to take the first step toward reconciliation. But love that looks like Jesus goes first.
Think about Jesus in John 13. Before He gave this command to love one another, He got down on His knees and washed His disciples’ feet. This was the job of a servant, yet Jesus did it voluntarily. He did not wait for someone to volunteer. He saw the need, He acted first, and He showed them what love looks like before He told them to do it.
**Love Takes the First Step**
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2019/06/17/emanuel-explores-power-forgiveness-after-charleston-church-massacre/1478473001/
On June 17, 2015, the nation was shaken by a horrific tragedy when Dylann Roof walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and opened fire during a Bible study, killing nine people.
What happened next stunned the watching world. Just 48 hours later, the victims’ families were invited to speak at Roof’s bond hearing — their very first time coming face to face with the man who had murdered their loved ones.
Nadine Collier, who lost her mother Ethel Lance, stood in the courtroom and said these powerful words through tears:
“I forgive you ... You took something really precious from me. I will never talk to her ever again, I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you and have mercy on your soul.”
One by one, other family members echoed her words, choosing to forgive instead of choosing hatred or revenge.
Chris Singleton, a former minor league baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, whose mother Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was also killed that night, was playing in a baseball game when he decided in his heart to forgive Roof. He later said:
“I never thought I would be able to forgive somebody for murdering my mom … But after seeing what happened and the reason why it happened, and after seeing how people could forgive, I truly hope that people will see that it wasn't just us saying words. I know, for a fact, that it was something greater than us, using us to bring our city together.”
Singleton also said that forgiving Roof was not weakness but strength:
“The narrative of forgiveness is submitting and it means that you're weak, or people would think that. But I've realized that forgiving is so much tougher than holding a grudge. It takes a lot more courage to forgive than it does to say ‘I'm going to be upset about whatever forever.’”
This is what love that looks like Jesus does — it acts first. It forgives when the world would expect bitterness. It chooses grace before the other person deserves it. It refuses to let hate have the last word.
Our challenge is the same. Love does not wait for the neighbor to speak first. Love does not wait for the coworker to apologize. Love does not wait for perfect conditions.
Love that looks like Jesus is proactive, not reactive.
### **II: Love Sacrifices**
Love that looks like Jesus is costly.
Paul writes in Ephesians 5:2:
2 … [L]ive a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5, NIV1984)
When Jesus loved us, it cost Him everything — His comfort, His reputation, His very life.
True love always involves sacrifice — putting someone else’s needs ahead of our own.
At home, that may mean laying aside your schedule to spend time with your spouse or children.
At work, it might mean giving credit to a coworker instead of seeking it for yourself.
In the church, it may mean giving generously or serving quietly without recognition.
Love is not love if it costs us nothing.
Sacrificial Love
Source: Bryan Chapell, In the Grip of Grace (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992)
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2000/april/12381.html
Copied from Preaching Today
On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 225 crashed just after taking off from the Detroit airport, killing 155 people. There was only one survivor — a four-year-old girl named Cecelia.
When rescuers found her, they were stunned that she had lived through such a crash. At first they thought she must have been in a car on the highway where the plane went down. But her name was on the passenger list.
Cecelia survived because her mother, Paula Chican, unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around Cecelia, and refused to let go.
Nothing could separate that child from her mother’s love — not the fall, not the fire, not life, not death.
That is what sacrificial love does — it gives everything for the sake of another.
Just a few days ago, we remembered the events of September 11, 24 years ago — the day when Islamic terrorists struck our nation. We saw that same kind of sacrificial love displayed when countless first responders ran toward danger instead of away from it. Firefighters climbed the towers of the World Trade Center, knowing the risk, but driven by a love that put others first.
We remember the passengers aboard Flight 93, who, after learning what was happening, banded together and took action, forcing the plane down in a Pennsylvania field rather than letting it strike another target. They laid down their lives so that others might live.
Folks, that is sacrificial love — the kind of love Paul writes about, the kind of love that costs something.
This is the love of Jesus for us. He did not stay at a safe distance. He did not wait for us to get our lives together. He left heaven, lowered Himself to us, and wrapped Himself around us at the cross, bearing the full weight of sin so that we could be saved.
Love like that is costly — but it is the kind of love we are called to show if we want to live less like us and more like Jesus.
### **III: Love Keeps Going**
Finally, love that looks like Jesus is not a one-time event — it is a lifestyle — and it keeps going and going.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13, NLT)
The world’s version of love is fickle — here today, gone tomorrow. It is love that lasts only as long as it is convenient, or as long as the other person does what we want. But the love of God is steadfast. It does not quit when things get hard. It does not throw in the towel when we fail.
Think about how many times the disciples failed Jesus — and yet He kept loving them.
When James and John argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus corrected them but still kept them close. When Thomas doubted His resurrection, Jesus did not reject him but invited him to touch His wounds.
And perhaps the clearest example is Peter. The bold, brash disciple who promised, “Lord, I will never deny You,” only to deny Him three times on the night Jesus was arrested.
Luke tells us that as the rooster crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter — not with condemnation, but with heartbreaking love (Luke 22:61). That look broke Peter, and he went out and wept bitterly.
But that was not the end of Peter’s story. In John 21, after the resurrection, Jesus met Peter on the shore of Galilee. Three times He asked, “Peter, do you love Me?” And three times Peter said, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.”
And Jesus responded, “Feed My sheep.”
In other words, “Peter, you still have a place in My plan. You still have a purpose. I am not done with you yet.”
That is steadfast love — the kind that restores, forgives, and calls us forward.
And this is not just a New Testament idea. God’s steadfast love runs like a thread through the entire Old Testament.
Consider Israel. Time and again they turned away from God, chasing idols and breaking His covenant. And time and again, God pursued them, forgave them, and restored them.
One of the clearest real life illustrations is found in the prophet Hosea. God told Hosea to marry Gomer, a woman who would be unfaithful to him, so that Hosea’s marriage could become a living parable of God’s love for Israel.
When Gomer abandoned Hosea and ended up enslaved, God told Hosea to go and buy her back. Hosea obeyed — he paid the price to redeem his wayward wife, brought her home, and loved her again.
What a stunning picture of God’s love for us. Even when we wander, even when we are unfaithful, He does not stop loving us. He comes after us, pays the price for our redemption, and restores us to Himself.
This is what steadfast, never ending love looks like.
So what does that mean for us today?
It means loving the people in our lives even when they let us down.
It means staying committed even when it would be easier to walk away.
It means forgiving again and again, even seventy times seven, because that is what God has done for us.
Love that looks like Jesus is not just a feeling — it is a decision to keep loving, keep forgiving, keep hoping, and keep enduring, no matter what — even when it is hard, even when others do not love us back.
### **Conclusion**
Folks, as we draw our series to an end, we cannot help but admit that we live in a world that is tearing itself apart.
You do not have to look far to see it — online, in the news, even in our own neighborhoods. Anger and outrage are everywhere. People do not just disagree anymore — they destroy. They cannot simply “agree to disagree” — they vilify one another.
We have come to a point where some even celebrate when tragedy strikes their opponents, as though a human life is expendable if it belongs to “the other side.”
This is not what God wants from us.
This is not the way we are to live.
No!
We have been called to something better.
We have been called to love — not the cheap, conditional love the world knows, but the costly, sacrificial, steadfast love of Christ. A love that crosses enemy lines. A love that takes the first step. A love that pays the price. A love that never stops, even when it is hard, even when the world cannot understand it.
Paul prayed this over the Ephesian church, and I pray it over us today:
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3, NLT)
If we are going to be “less like me and more like Jesus,” it begins right here — with love that acts first, love that sacrifices, love that keeps going.
Imagine if this week, every person here loved that way.
Imagine if we loved our spouses, our children, our neighbors, our coworkers, even our enemies, with a love so big the world could not explain it.
Imagine what it would look like if a watching world — divided, angry, and hostile — looked at the Church and saw a people so radically loving, so completely surrendered, so relentlessly merciful, that they had to stop and say, “There is something different about them.”
That is how the world will know we belong to Jesus.
Not by our songs.
Not by our sermons.
Not by our programs.
But by our love.
So this week, let us go and live it.
Let us go and love.
Let us go and be “less like me and more like Jesus.”
### **Closing Invitation**
Friends, before we can love like Jesus, we must first receive His love.
Some of us have been running on empty, trying to love others out of our own strength — and it is exhausting. We cannot give what we have not first received.
Today, Jesus is inviting us to experience His love — a love so deep it covers our sin, a love so wide it welcomes us home, a love so strong it cannot be broken.
If you have never received that love, today is the day. Come to Him. Lay down your guilt, your shame, your striving — and let Him fill you with His mercy and grace.
And for those who already know Jesus, perhaps today is the day to recommit to living this kind of love — to forgive the one you have been holding a grudge against, to serve the one you have been ignoring, to love the one you find hardest to love.
Ask God to make us less like ourselves and more like Jesus — so that His love will shine through us all week long.
