Can You Learn to Love Like Jesus?


“All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
(1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT, second edition)

You are not the Body of Christ on your own. You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we are His Body.

A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation. The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in God’s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love.

As a participating member, you learn to care about others and share the experiences of others: “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor” (1 Corinthians 12:26 NCV).

Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect believers can we learn real fellowship and experience the New Testament truth of being connected and dependent on each other (Ephesians 4:16, Romans 12:4-5, Colossians 2:19, 1 Corinthians 12:25).

Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ. God expects us to give our lives for each other. Many Christians who know John 3:16 are unaware of 1 John 3:16: “Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (NIV).

This is the kind of sacrificial love God expects you to show other believers — a willingness to love them in the same way Jesus loves you.

Talk It Over

  • What kind of balance do you have between regular contact with the Body of Christ and time spent building relationships with non-believers?
  • You probably won’t have to lay down your life for someone, but how can you show sacrificial love to other believers?


~ Written by: Rick Warren ~
~ Modified by: Oleg Fabyanchuk ~

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