Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 NLT
“I just want to love like Jesus.” That’s a phrase we hear frequently and probably a feeling we express regularly. It’s easy to say; harder to do. Loving like Jesus is not experiencing an emotion: warmth, pity, compassion, or even enjoying people. Loving like Jesus requires living like Jesus. How did He live?
Jesus’ life has been recorded, analyzed, and studied in more books than we can know or count. But the first four books written about Him, the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), are the eyewitness accounts and the basis of every other book. We have all we need in those pages to know how He lived. Peter is the man behind the book of Mark. Mark was his scribe and recorded the book that ended up titled with Mark’s name in our Bibles. Acts 10:38 is an excerpt from one of Peter’s messages.
This verse is a powerful summary of how He lived and loved.
- He was characterized by movement that was active and intentional. He did not wait for people to come to Him; He ”went about.” He moved into towns, streets, and homes. His love was walking, talking, and living reality.
- He was characterized with movement that was purposeful. He went about with the specific purpose of doing good. He had healing and freedom in mind. He comforted the broken, healed the sick, and freed those oppressed in isolation and shame. He targeted the pain of the world, lifting heavy spiritual burdens. Regardless of the circumstances, Jesus always extended grace and mercy.
- He was deeply rooted in the presence of God, His Father. The secret to His relentless, constant, pursuing grace was simple: “God was with Him.”
We can live and love Jesus. We do it as we intentionally step into normal life with ordinary people, looking for ways to serve them. Don’t look for grand, “stage” moments. John Wesley is credited for saying, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." Living in that manner reflects the heart of Jesus and is maintained by anchoring in a solid and daily relationship with the Father.
- Jesus, You went about doing good. Help me be like You. I don’t want to just “go about.” I want to bring hope and healing and freedom to ordinary people. Heavenly Father, help me be rooted deeply in You and then empowered by You.