How to Love Like Jesus When It Doesn’t Come Easily
A warm wind rustles the maples and sounds like clear water flowing over granite. I’m taken back to a different season. Twenty years ago, God began the deep heart work of teaching me how to love like Jesus, especially when it doesn’t come easily.
Working at a summer camp will teach that kind of lesson.
God placed me in a quiet canyon where wild Wyoming skies brought adventure on tepid summer afternoons, and campfires beneath the stars on chilling summer nights formed lifelong memories.
He placed me among dozens of varied personalities. We melded together like one large, dysfunctional family just trying to keep the peace and keep out of everyone else’s way.
Loving well had mostly come easily until that summer. I was blessed to be born into a family that generally gets along quite well.
Everything changed that summer beneath the western skies. Loving like Christ didn’t come so easily. I faced confrontations and endured painful debriefing sessions. I learned about patience, flexibility, and forgiveness.
How to Love Like Jesus in Your Weariness
Twenty years later, I remember it all as I hold a fussy baby boy in my arms.
I feel a world away from those mountains and youthful adventures. I look down at this fuzzy little head, and I think of the dozens of other tasks I “should” be completing around the house: Writing projects left stagnant, wet laundry in the machine, dishes in the sink, and the two oldest siblings who have been parked in front of a screen for far longer than I’d prefer.
The thought passes through my mind with the rustling of the leaves: It can be far easier to focus on what you think you should be doing elsewhere than to love the one in front of you.
I’m often tempted to focus on the project in my head more than the person in front of me. I tend to focus on the list more than the little person at my feet. It is often easier to focus on the work than the relationships surrounding the work.
A new thought is birthed as I hold this baby in my arms: I love like Jesus every time I set aside my agenda to focus on the person in front of me.
I think through it, and it is as if God has cupped my face in his hands, ever so gently. He has softly turned my full attention to this fuzzy head in front of me. Love the one in front of you. Right here. Right in this moment. The words are whispered to my heart, and there is no doubt that this is the assignment for the season.
Love the One in Front of You
Every person placed in your path, every relationship that feels like an annoyance, every neighbor on your street, coworker in your office, child in your home, and friend on your speed dial is the person in front of you. Not one is an accident or coincidence.
Maybe it’s time to stop hustling through your days, crossing items off your list, and striving after performance. Maybe today is the day to stop in your tracks and do the hard work of loving the one in front of you. Share on X
Most likely, it won’t be glamorous; in fact, no one will likely notice.
You probably won’t feel like you’re not making the impact you long to make.
Most likely, it will be an act of love in the quiet part of your life: your most annoying friend, your most disobedient student, your most trying client, your tired husband, your kids who tell you they’re bored five times a day, or that relative who calls way too often with absolutely nothing noteworthy to say.
It might feel hard.
It might feel humbling.
Love them anyway.
It might hurt.
It might drain you.
Love them anyway.
Because this is how we love like Jesus: We love well when love doesn’t come easily. We lay down our lives for the purpose of loving others.
And in so doing, we start to look just a little more like the One who loved us first. Because he wrestled with the calling too. He wrestled in the garden when his sweat dripped as blood. However, when the new day dawned, he lived poured out for love. We do likewise because he did it first.
A Free Devotional to Help You Grow in Your Faith:
Lastly, I have a gift for you. Would you like to connect with God in ways that breathe fresh life into your weary soul? The Weary Woman’s 20-Day Devotional is my free online devotional to help you connect with God in your worn and weary seasons. You will find 20 daily readings to help you find refreshment in God’s presence. Click here and I’ll send it to your email inbox today!
Calling all moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
