Sunday’s memorial celebration of the life of Charlie Kirk (meaning church) brings us to the question: “How do we as Christians love like Jesus?” It was evident that Charlie’s life was dedicated to just that calling. It was manifested by each person as they shared about their experiences with him; that his witness had a profound effect upon the lives of thousands during his 31 years; but is now being multiplied by his death as many are coming to Christ. God brought me back to two women of faith that impacted my life. Recently, a friend passed on to me a prayer written on the back of an envelope by my neighbor—the most godly woman I have ever known. She did not have an easy life as her oldest daughter contracted polio in the 40’s when treatment was limited and her only son was killed in the military. Yet she remained dedicated to the Lord and penned this prayer: “O Lord, help me to be an understanding and loving person that I may channel Your love to sinners—when sinners look into my face—may they see reflected there the love of the Great Heavenly Father. Amen.” God called me back to the words penned by another blessed saint, Betty Jo Hardy in From the Throne from the early 2000’s about the love of the Lord: “Beloved child, I AM is mighty in your midst at this instant of your time on terraform. My forces are adept in all parts of the world at this moment as well. The instances you are hearing about are sent by Me to a nation and a world which is dying daily at a more rapid rate than ever before. You will continue to see these signs in abundance until My Son Jesus comes in the air for those who eagerly await His arrival. Be alert to My promptings of Spirit in your inner man for I alone will show you when and where to witness to My power and glory. Above all, love, love, love. The world is being bathed by My love but so few know how to receive it. Each child is a vessel of love and now is the time to brighten distraught people by loving them as never before. Selah.” Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 1: 3-7 that the believer in Christ has a special calling. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Surely, we can all agree that we are experiencing unprecedented times of lies and deceptions, hate and evil as never before in our lifetime. But God is calling us to love like Jesus and do not walk in fear. We are called for this moment! It is a come-to-Jesus moment—our destiny is love. We must fight with the power of love. Paul in 1 Cor. 16: 13-14 instructs us: “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” God promises that He will use every valley—even those of our own making—to benefit us. (Rom. 8:28) With eyes firmly fixed on Him, we must walk steadily, attuned to His presence and trusting in His pledge. God intended our walks of faith to be great adventures, motivated by our love for Jesus Christ. Obedience is about expressing our love for and trust in God, not about avoiding unpleasant consequences. That is why John could say, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome.” (I Jn. 5:3) Jesus made our marching orders clear in Matthew 22: 37-39: “And He said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And then in John 13:34 He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
But we might say: “Jesus was perfect, and we are not.” Although we as humans do not always get it right Jesus has given us His perfect standard—His Word as He is the Word and His Spirit of love within us! Jesus gave us many practical examples that help us love like He did. Paul instructs us in Romans 15:4: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Hope is something that we are all are in need of in these days. Jesus desires for each of us to have a heart for the Word and a love for people. Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 14: 12 are an encouragement to us today as His followers: “Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on Me, the works that I do will he do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I go unto my Father.” “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4: 13)
Jesus had a heart of compassion and caring for others. He reached out to a despised tax collector Zacchaeus and said to him: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19: 3-5) Not only did He notice him, but He wanted to spend time with him to share God’s love. Jesus had empathy for His friends Mary and Martha in the death of their brother Lazarus as He was deeply moved and wept. The Jews said, “See how He loved him!” (John 11: 32-36) He shared in their grief even though He knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He demonstrated that love is seen in what we do—in our ability to understand and share feelings with others. So, we can offer that same compassion to those around us who are hurting.
Jesus was willing to serve others. He did not shy away from serving others and commanded His followers to do the same. He said in Matthew 25: 40: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.” Jesus didn’t just talk the talk; He walked the walk. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, putting Himself in the place of a servant. (John 13: 12-14) He did this to set the example that they (and we) should follow. Jesus was not afraid to humble Himself and show others His love by serving them. In Mark 10: 45 He said that He “came not to be served but to serve.” We have the opportunity to adopt Jesus’ loving mindset—to not be served but to serve.
Jesus demonstrated true forgiveness to those who wronged Him. If anyone had a right to not forgive, it was Jesus. He was falsely accused, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross to die an excruciating death. And it wasn’t just the soldiers or the Jewish leaders that put Him there. It was all of us—our sinful selves that needed atonement. Jesus didn’t have to forgive us, but He loved us so much that He prayed to the Father in heaven that we would be forgiven. “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23: 34) Forgiveness was a priority for Jesus as He taught His disciples to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We’ve experienced God’s loving forgiveness for our sins and as a result, we are commanded to share that same mercy to those who hurt us. Paul reveals what that looks like in 1 Corinthians 3: 5-6: “Love does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.” Love forgives seventy times seven!
Jesus shared the truth in love. If we love someone, we don’t hide the truth from them—we share it! Jesus wasn’t shy about telling others the truth, but He always did it in a way that showed He cared for them. In John 4: 24-26 we have the account of Jesus and the woman at the well. He said to her: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things’ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” God is the Source of all truth and Jesus is the God-man who became truth in the flesh. The first Adam failed to be obedient to God, but Jesus followed perfectly and in Him man can be reconciled to God. (Rom. 5:11, 2 Cor. 5: 18-21) Jesus’ perfect sacrifice would bear the sins of many. Jesus is the truth because He is the living and true God, and we cannot separate the word and truth from the living Word and the Giver of the truth. The Greek word for “truth” is aletheia, which refers to “divine revelation” and is related to a word that literally means “what can’t be hidden.” The Hebrew word for “truth” is emeth, which means “firmness,” “constancy” and “duration.” It implies an everlasting substance and something that can be relied upon. There is an all-out attack on truth today. Absolute truth in matters of faith and religion is labeled as “narrow-minded” and “arrogant” to claim that someone is right and another person is wrong. Biblical truth has become “offensive” and “divisive.” Jesus shared truth because there are consequences for being wrong. Eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong. Jesus did not hold back the truth from His disciples or us two thousand years later. That Jesus is the one and only way to God is absolute truth that endures forever. He showed His love for mankind by proclaiming this truth and verifying it with His ministry, “Jesus said I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Jn. 14:6) After His death and resurrection, Jesus commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, sharing with them His loving truth. (Mt. 28: 16-20) If we are to love like Jesus, we are to keep that commandment!
Jesus loved His enemies. A mob came to arrest Him. As a result, one of the disciples lashed out with his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Even though the servant was part of the mob that had come to capture Jesus, He showed the man His love by healing his ear. In Matthew 5: 43-48 Jesus teaches His followers to love our enemies, to do good for those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us. He goes on to explain that loving those who love us is easy and even unbelievers can do that but commands us to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In Luke 6:35 Jesus said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Because Jesus loved us, He was willing to sacrifice His life for us. He suffered and died on a cross because He knew that was the only way we could join Him in heaven. (Jn. 15: 13) We may not be asked to literally give up our lives for someone else, but we can still love like Jesus by sacrificing our desires to help those around us. Not our will but God’s be done on earth as in heaven!
These are all challenges that believers in Christ face today as we seek to “Love Like Jesus.” As we ponder on the events of the celebration of the life of Charlie Kirk, I believe that it is evident that Charlie checked off every requirement. It was because he had a heart and compassion for the salvation of youth and this nation that he began a grassroots effort at age 18 to evangelize this nation one campus at a time. He was willing to serve others by not just talking the talk but walking the walk tirelessly day and night. He held strong convictions about faith and family and mentored thousands of young men to follow in his footsteps. He was not shut down by the voice of opposition against biblical truth and values but stood strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. He boldly spoke truth and welcomed discourse with the opposition so that truth would set them free. He was willing to do whatever it took to please the Lord and do His will. He refused to shut up, give up, or compromise truth. Like Jesus, he was willing to lay down his life for his family, his friends and others. His wife Erica gave testimony to his faithfulness as a husband and father and once a week left her a love note that always ended with the words “How can I serve you better as your husband?” She said, “He left this world without regrets. He did 100 percent of what he could every day.” She begins her calling as CEO of Turning Point Ministries with these words: “On the Cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do—that young man—I forgive him.” President Trump said, “Kirk has become a martyr after his assassination. I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk…and neither now, will history. Because while Charlie has been reunited with his creator in heaven, his voice on earth will echo through the generations, and his name will live forever in the eternal chronicle of America’s greatest patriots.” The death of Charlie Kirk has ignited the biggest revival of our faith, our families and our country that we have seen in a generation—a Turning Point. The challenge is for each of us to stand up, get up, get to know the power of God, align with Jesus to love like Him, to use the authority of His Name and His Word, to be warriors that we will experience God’s glory in America and across the world. It is time for our personal TURNING POINT!