More Than a Meme

More Than a Meme
SUZIE ELLER

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." John 13:34-35 (NLT)

There's an image of Jesus I can't get out of my mind. It's found in Matthew 8. Jesus has ministered all day long. He's taught the crowds. He's healed a leper. He's counseled a lost man. He's prayed for Peter's mother-in-law who suffered with a dangerous fever.

Evening comes, and more crowds press in. They bring suffering and sick loved ones, and Jesus prays until the last one is gone.

Then He and the disciples climb into a boat to sail to the other side of the lake. Jesus is so physically exhausted that He falls asleep within moments. He remains asleep even as a terrifying storm sweeps in, and the boat nearly sinks.

That's how Jesus loved. That's how Jesus still loves: sacrificially. Nothing bears greater witness to that than the cross.

So when I read today's key verse, I'm a little intimidated.

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:34-35).

Right now I have T-shirts with inspiring messages hanging in my closet. I have placed bands around my wrist to tell the world I care. I have pinned fabric to my shirt for a specific cause. I have lifted my voice on social media to protest injustice.

But have I loved like Jesus?

This is far greater love than just wearing a cool T-shirt or posting a meme on social media for a current issue.

Jesus displayed His love by showing up where love was needed.

It may have been behind-the-scenes. It was hands-on. It required something of Him, and most of the time Jesus gave was to those with nothing to give in return.

Perhaps this commandment intimidates me because I'm not Jesus. The thought that I can do what He did or love like Him seems impossible. Yet that's not what Jesus is asking.

This wasn't a brand-new commandment, but rather a fresh take on an old one His followers would have known. The disciples had been told to love their neighbor before, but now that they knew first-hand what love looked like, Jesus was asking them to live it.

Essentially Jesus is saying, Now that you know what My love looks like:

  • Include My love in your interaction with others,
  • Show up where love is needed as I lead you,
  • Don't try to be Me, but reflect Me in the way you treat others.

This is tangible love. This is sacrificial love.

Our faith will be most evident behind-the-scenes as we bring a meal to that neighbor in a hard place. It shows up when we choose not to reply unkindly to that person on social media who disagrees with our point of view. It's giving sacrificially to help those who are oppressed. It's forgiving. It's kindness. It's mercy. It's extravagant.

===


Victor Christianto
Founder of The Second Coming Institute, www.sci4God.com
Founder of www.DigiMBA.com, Preparing Leaders for 21st Century
Founder of www.acaraindo.com, Promoting cultural and music events in Jakarta and other cities
Founder of www.ketindo.com, A renewable energy consultant 
My books and papers can be found at:
 You can also check the Neutrosophic Journal: 

http://fs.unm.edu/NSS/NSSArticles.htm  

==
We love you all nations, but time is very very limited. Be hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ. Find a guide to help you repent and receive Jesus Christ, in this link http://www.esnips.com/web/Guidetorepent,
http://www.esnips.com/web/RepentanceGuide.
Print this guide, copy as many as you can, and distribute this to as many countries as you can, including Asian countries such as China, Burma, Thailand, Campuchea, Laos, Srilanka, and Vietnam. Pray and ask to God first before you select a language for your country. That is the message: be hurry be very very very very very hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ, all corners of the world.
Don't you know that Jesus Christ will come again soon? That is why you should be hurry and quickly to repent and do your repentance. Tweet this message quickly and distribute this message to as many countries as you can including to all your friends quickly, quickly, quickly today. Follow Jesus only at http://www.twitter.com/Christianto2013.
Send this message quickly to all your colleagues and to all your friends. Thank you, Jesus Christ already help you. 

blog: http://guidetorepent.blogspot.com, http://findtheTruthnow.blogspot.com,
http://evangelismwithsocialmedia.blogspot.com
guide: http://GoodNews.getfreehosting.co.uk/digfile/cms/index.php (login with 'visitor')
video: http://youtube.com/guidetorepent,
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VChristianto,
and follow Jesus only at www.twitter.com/Christianto2013

**KINDLE BOOKS:
authorpage: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AZEDP4E
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book Two. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR3F9C
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book One. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR6TJU
by Jesus Christ: How social darwinism ruin America and the World. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJJQI
by Jesus Christ: Evangelism for Difficult People. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJCLA
by Jesus Christ: How you can do Evangelism with Social Media. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDXZLI
by Jesus Christ: The Nicene Creed. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDYMJ2
by Jesus Christ: Logos, Memra, and other letter for Economists. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDY7JW
by Jesus Christ: our Father in Heaven prayer. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZKZUNM
Some problems of Nuclear Energy development in Asia: A literature survey. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B4LW5ZW

Some papers at www.vixra.org:
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0036
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0037
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0005
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0003
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0053

Komentar

Postingan Populer