Introduction

Welcome back to our 4-week series Love God; Love People… Where, you guessed it, we’re talking all about loving God and loving people. Last week, we took a look at where this instruction comes from and why it’s called “The Greatest Commandment.” We also took a look at the specific verses where Jesus gave the instruction AND where He offered us a “new command.” And this is where we’re picking up the series today, with, The Example of Christ, as seen in the new command.

Jesus’ command, and the example He set for us, was to love one another as He loved us. Fortunately for us, Jesus gave us numerous examples to look at, study, and emulate while He ministered here on earth. When I think about the example that Christ set there are two specific words that come to mind; Intentional and impartial.

Jesus loved others intentionally and impartially throughout His ministry life.

Main Idea

It’s easy to love people we like, people who are like us, and people who share our interests and desires. It’s exponentially more difficult to love people who are different, who we disagree with, and people who have differing interests and desires. Most of us understand this concept and most of us generally surround ourselves with the people who are easy… After all, life is difficult enough, who wants to add difficult relationships to the mix?

The problem for us, as we follow Christ, is that Jesus set a righteous example and then He advised us to follow Him. And so whether we like it or not, Jesus wants us to be intentional and impartial about loving others. We know this because this is what he did… and one of the most poignant examples of this in the gospels is found in John chapter 4.

There are many aspects of this story worth highlighting as we consider the example of Jesus as He was both intentional and impartial in His love and care for the Samaritan woman ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium