“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:12
I heard this question today: “How do we leak Jesus into our environment?” I’ve been pondering it all day. I’ve changed it to, “What is the best way to leak Jesus into our environment?”
I decided the best way to answer it would be to find the scripture that answers it. I started ruffling through the index box in my head. There is the Great Commission, go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). No, that’s not it. Then I thought of my personal favorite, Mark 12:30-31 love God, love others. Getting closer, but still not it. Then John 15:12 came to me. Love each other the same way I loved you. Bingo. That’s it, that’s how we leak Jesus into our environment. Not only that, it’s the BEST way to leak Jesus into our environment. Love others like He loved us.
Think about how Jesus loved us. There’s the obvious, He died for us. John 15:13 tells us there’s no greater love than to lay your life down for another. I’m eternally grateful for that act of love Jesus did for me, no pun intended. In fact, that one act of love is what makes leaking Jesus into the environment around us so vitally important. We want others to know how much Jesus loves them.
Which is another way Jesus loved us. He didn’t discriminate. There is no skin color in Jesus’s eye’s, there are only God’s children. Jesus doesn’t care how much money we make, He loves us all. There is no one who isn’t loved by Jesus, the murderer, the adulterer, the lier, the cheat. He loves us all. He died for us all. I love that Jesus didn’t discriminate.
I love that Jesus didn’t enable people either. I always think of the rich young ruler (Luke 18: 18-23). Jesus let him make his own choice, and he suffered the consequences of those choices. Just like the thief on the cross did (Luke 23:39-43), except he chose better. Of course, he didn’t have quite as many choices as the rich young ruler, but as his counterpart on the other cross shows us, he did have a choice.
Jesus was fun! I think often times we miss this in the Scriptures. Jesus rejoices a lot, and rejoicing is fun! He rejoices when lost sheep are found (Luke 15:5-6). He loves putting Satan in his place. (Luke 10:21). He loves building faith in his friends (John 11:15). And He rejoiced in anticipation of His resurrection (Psalm 16:9, Acts 2:26). We can all rejoice about that.
Jesus is also very witty. Think about some of his sayings. Take the log out of your own eye (Matthew 7:4), reallly? How about trying to fit a camel through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24)? Or straining a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24)? Come on, tell me that’s not witty?
Jesus was also very compassionate. We all know the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
You know what all of this tells us? How well Jesus loved. He loved so well, that over 2000 years later we’re still talking about it. I think Jesus leaked into the environment around Him. I also think, if we love others like Jesus loved us, we’ll leak into the environment we’re in today.
Let’s leak a little Jesus!
Leaking Jesus
