Let Jesus's love define your life

Let Jesus's love define your life. 

After jealousy and arrogance reared their ugly heads, God dropped that statement into my soul. It looks quite simple. But it’s not.

Where do I start with let Jesus’s love define your life. I am on the hunt for Jesus’s defining love in scripture.

Sacrifice defines Jesus’s love. "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my (Jesus') sake will find it." Matthew 10:39

When a situation with my friend came about, if I would have sacrificed my own indignant thinking on the altar of sacrificial love, considering them before myself, then jealousy and arrogance would not have developed into a full blown hissy fit (a very spiritual term).

If I would have sacrificed time to go before Jesus, then He would have taken care of it quickly, instead of days spent beating myself up for un-Christ like behavior. 

Humility also defines Jesus’s love. 

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (the Pharisee and the tax collector parable in Luke 18:9-14). 

The Pharisee openly compared himself to the tax collector and came up righteous in that self-serving moment. He was blind to his sin of self righteousness but the tax collector said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” He knew himself to be full of sin before God and with humility threw himself on the mercy of God. Jesus proclaimed the tax collector justified because he humbled himself.  Amazing!

Luke 18: 9 “He (Jesus) told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”

When I am jealous and arrogant about that jealousy, then I am not humble, seeking to justify unjustifiable actions. I am a Pharisee. I am not allowing my life to be defined by Jesus’s love. God, be merciful to me, a sinner! And He is. Glory!

Kindness and patience embodies the love of Jesus. Look how he treated children in Matthew 19:14 “…but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’ “

Who is more open and guileless than a child? Jesus recognized their worth and called them to himself. I watched a child crawl all over my friend. My friend let this little one poke at her face, pull at her earring, jump up in her lap and treat my friend like a jungle gym! She was so patient and kind to this little child. What an example of Jesus in her love!

Picture this! The children rushed to Jesus as they flew from their parents arms into his lap; poking at His face, pulling at His ear, stroking His hair. He laid hands on everyone and prayed for them. Oh to hear the prayers of Jesus for His Kingdom inheritors. I can hear Him say, “You are dearly loved and wanted. I love you best and most. You will be Kings and Queens in my Kingdom. Never forget… I love you!”

That’s what He says to this child after I came to Him, confessing my jealousy and arrogance and asking for mercy. Desperately needed…freely given. Glory be to God!