One of the most popular forms of ministry today is the ministry that makes a big splash, garners a lot of attention, and possibly gets reported in the news.
And while good does come from “Go Big” forms of ministry, there are other ways to love others like Jesus. If we think the big splash ministry is the only way to minister, then we will ignore all the small, effective, practical ways of loving others that might actually make more tangible and lasting impact on the lives of others for the Kingdom of God. This is partly why Jesus spoke of giving a cup of cold water in His name (Matt 10:42) and liked the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed (Matt 13;31-32).
It is often the small, easy, cheap, affordable, insignificant, simple acts of love and kindness that do the most to help people experience the love of Jesus through your life.
What sort of things? Below are 14 practical ways to love others like Jesus. There are thousands of such ways, but the following are 14 of the things that my family does to try to show love to others. They are not things you necessarily have to do, but are simply offered as examples.
If we want to simply love others, then we can love others simply.
Please feel free to share some of your own suggestions in the comments below.
14 Ways to Love Others Like Jesus
- Love the person right in front of you. There is so much pain and loneliness in the world, you can be pretty sure the person next to on the bus or the checker at the grocery store could use a kind word, a smile, or a helping hand. Get off your cell phone and talk to them. Get to know them. Ask them how their day is going… and mean it. Remember their name.
- Take food to your neighbors. Like what? Nothing fancy… a plate of cookies, a loaf of fresh-baked bread. When you give it to them, don’t drop it in their arms and run. Stand and talk for a bit if they seem to want that. Don’t invite yourself in and don’t invite them to church. Just be friendly.
- Have neighbors over for dinner or dessert. Don’t make it formal or fancy. Just pizza and pop. Or BBQ and beer. Don’t try to turn it into a Bible study. Just laugh, tell stories, and listen.
- Hand out homeless bags to people you see on the street. We carry 2-3 bags around in our car and hand out them out when we see people begging on street corners. The ones we hand out contain a tarp, a pair of socks, some non-perishable food, a bottle of water, a scarf, and whatever else we can find.
- Watch the children of single mothers so they can go shopping alone. Or, men, offer watch all the kids so your wife and the other woman can go get some coffee and chat.
- Take up gardening so you can talk to your neighbor who is all alone.
- When you take your kids to activities, don’t retreat to your car and listen to the radio or text on your cell phone. Stick around and talk with any other parents who are there.
- Do the Twelve Days of Christmas for a friend or neighbor. What is this? It’s Twelve Days of “Secret Santa.” Every day, you sneak over, leave a gift or present on their doorstep, ring the bell, and run! If you have children, they LOVE doing this around Christmas time.
- Put together Shoe Boxes with Samaritan’s Purse.
- Help raise money to rescue girls in slavery. Sell candy or treats, not for a band trip to Hawaii, but to raise money to rescue girls from slavery or some other human need.
- Help a missionary family overseas by doing things they cannot do where they are. Download podcasts and load hundreds of them on a CD and send it to them. Help them set up and run a blog. Send them clothes and crafts they cannot get overseas.
- Pack and deliver boxes of food and presents on Christmas Eve to families in the community that are less fortunate. Just give them the presents. No gospel tracts.
- Volunteer to help feed the poor and homeless in your area. Bring crafts to do with the children.
- Buy food for a homeless person on the street, and then sit and talk with them while they eat (If they don’t mind). Hug them!
The bottom line is that simple (not big and glorious) acts of kindness are effective ways of loving others like Jesus. None of these are glamorous. None of them will get you recognized in church. None of them will get you interviewed on television, BUT they don’t cost an arm and a leg and they won’t burn you out either. They are just simple ways to be kind every day to friends and strangers so that we can offer light and love and hope to the people around us.
Oh…. And please, please, please, do not ever do any of these things with the intention or goal of getting people to attend your church. This is where most Christians screw it up BIG TIME. If we go help our neighbor mow his lawn because he broke his leg, and then after you’re done you invite him to church, he is going to know that you don’t really care about him at all. All you really care about is getting his butt in a pew on Sunday morning so you can brag to all your Christian friends about how you mowed his lawn and rescued him from the fires of hell.
As I have said before, Christian love does not consist in asking someone to come to church with you. If your only reason for loving people is to get them into church, just stay home and watch TV.
All great ideas! Show love to our neighbors, be they nearby or far away. Our culture thinks they know what Christians are against. What many people don’t see is the love of Jesus in how we interact with them, in how we treat them.
Sam, you are the inspiration for many of the things we do as a family. Thank you!
Jesus most certainly commanded us to love people. Really love them from the heart. I agree with this statement. I also believe he told us to tell people the good news. That part may make us unpopular even if we do truly love people with the love of Christ. That being said these are all good ways to show our love to our neighbors. Although a couple of them are kind of cutesy and maybe a little plastic.
Shawn,
Yes, you are right. I should not be an either-or, but a both-and. Hopefully as we genuinely love people, this will eventually allow us to share the gospel with them, although we must always remember that our actions are often “preaching the gospel” more than our words ever will.
Sounds good Jeremy
Find someone in your church that is financially needy and give them your tithe check. Yup, forget about the tax deduction, just put their name on the check instead of the church’s name and hand it over and walk away.
The church hierarchy may not appreciate you giving their money to someone in the congregation and thus bypassing them! I practice the same.
That is an interesting observation, “The church hierarchy may not appreciate you giving their money to someone in the congregation and thus bypassing them!” But you are correct and that is a problem.
When you research (and it is difficult because most churches really are “shy” about publishing their budgets) how much a church gives to benevolence, it is many times even less than 10% with the rest going to “stuff” that makes us better Christians. ( 🙁 )
The Red Cross gives 92% of it’s donations to the people they are helping with 8% going to admin etc. No wonder the church is in a quandary.
I teach that churches need to re-visit their priorities, are they in the business of charity or in the business of …well…business? Re-invest back into their congregations…
Great, great suggestion!
The bible does not agree with handing over one-tenth of any of your income to the needy.You can prepare their gift for them separately and give God His own Malachi 3:7-10
Priscabin let them love others their own way.
Amazing grace!!! Wow! Good job! Envious of your ability to do this.
What a great idea! We might also find a single mother whose car, her only way to get to work, needs repaired and pay to have it repaired. Maybe that single mom lost her job and can’t pay her rent and we could pay it for her. However, we must not expect the church folks to approve.
Funny you should say that Sam…in church last Sunday, the pastor said he got an e-mail from a single mother that was experiencing fear and anxiety. The pastor then lead the church in prayer for her.
The next morning I sent an e-mail to the lead pastor (not the preaching pastor). I told him that I’d like to give this woman some money. He asked me if I knew her name and I replied that I didn’t. Haven’t heard back from anyone at the church since.
Sad
Some people write to Pastors in confidentiality, so Pastors are reluctant to give out names. Probably why you haven’t heard back. I belong to a small church, when I want to help someone in the church specifically, I give a check to the Pastor and tell him its for “so and so” please make sure they get the money anonymously. Now if you don’t trust the Pastor of your church, then why are you going there?
What wonderful suggestions, all of them! Here’s a general one that might be a shocker, until you give it a bit of thought:
Kill your “self!”
I don’t mean your physical body. That is a holy temple. I mean your spirit, as compared to the Holy Spirit. “Let go, and let God.” To paraphrase a popular saying, “The ego is a wonderful thing to waste!”
Be humble in Spirit. Get rid of your ego, then those ideas will come like a flood.
Very interesting! This is how Paul’s instruction to crucify yourself daily might have sounded to his audience! Shocking statement, but very true.
Hey Jason! These are ah-mazing! I do social media and marketing for Revelation Wellness. Would you mind if I paraphrased some of these for our FB page this month? Our April theme is LOVE OTHERS. Was googling practical ways to love others, and up this came! Right on, brother!
This is great stuff.
After faithfully tithing for some 7 years I stopped tithing and now make it a habit to nearly always say “keep the change ” when I pay cash. I tip better and give to the homeless when the opportunity is presented. Honestly,I’m not sure if God will ever bless me back for tithing as I did more from a heart of “I have to do this” than a heart of love.
Great Stuff! In addition to small, personal acts of service, you can also inspire others to search for Jesus in our own lives. You can tell people what God has done for you.
The Great Commission of Mark 16:15 gives you great authority. When Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” He was expressing His great faith in your ability to share Him with those around you.
Use your personal testimony to show people how Jesus made a difference in your life.
I agree with the article. Jesus demonstrated love to us by caring about us. He also demonstrated love by being an example of God’s Love. To invite a person to hear the Gospel, a relationship must be built from trust first, otherwise, we are only stepping on God’s plans and possibly causing more damage. In my many years of helping others, I have only pushed the “you need to go to church” statement to a new and young couple who was yelling at each other every other night. However, I also trying building a relationship with them first, of which did not work but it opened a door to approach them with their problem. He was a workaholic, who kept bringing home his work and she missed him. He was willing to listen, she yelled from the bedroom to me “it’s none of your business” and I yelled back “it becomes my business when I can hear everything you two are screaming about.” From that moment on they both listened. I was able to help him what she needed. That work stays at work and when at home you spend time at home to cultivate the family relationships because jobs come and go, family is forever. Long story short, it’s important to build a relationship with people before telling them about Jesus…
…because one cannot see LOVE if they are not feeling loved or have ever felt loved.
Thanks for the article and for listening to me!
May the Lord bless you!
Just tweeted this list – great ideas! Our groups of churches is currently looking at how we are missional, at home in particular.
Loved this article apart from being told not to leave a tract. I understand where you are coming from but you are discounting that the Holy Spirit may inspire you to so that someone can find it, perhaps months later, and come to know the Lord. In jail ministry we use the phrase “Love them, love them, love them until they ask you why.” There are times we will feel led to be quiet, other times when He opens the door wide open to share Jesus. I too am disillusioned with Churches that have become businesses. I love that Paul was a tent maker but the Church also generously supported him so that He was equipped to do what God called him to do. Although not bound by the law there is a lot of Godly wisdom in the laws God have in the Old Testament. Bottom line is Gal 2:20 – if I no longer live then God can and will do amazing things through me.
Andrea amen on leaving a tract! All of the things mentioned in this article are great but if JESUS isn’t brought out its missing the most important part! Whether written or spoken His gospel needs to get out into the world. Ohh how He loves us and wants us to be saved <3
I love this, I am so grateful I found your site. Thank you 🙂
I agree that it’s vital to extend kindness to our fellow human beings particularly the lonely and those in physical and psychological need. To do only this though is not enough. We need to embrace the power behind the gospel and understand that it’s the only thing available to convict people of the truth. You might feed a hungry alcoholic living on the streets for one night with your bag of goodies but if the gospel enters his heart you not only help him save his soul but he encounters the very one; the only one with the power to truly transform him. The most loving thing you can do for strangers and for your neighbors is to courageously preach the gospel. This business of Christians hiding their Christianity behind acts of kindness is just a way to make us feel like good people but it is not the obedience demanded of us as children of God.
Liz I wholeheartedly agree with sharing Jesus, in WORDS as well as in deeds! I don’t understand how witnessing has been so watered down that some can say “Use words IF necessary!” Faith does come by hearing! Pray for holy boldness through the Holy Spirit! Its just not enough to simply do ‘good deeds’! Nor do we have to have all the answers, letting that hold us back from sharing Him and how He loves the world, not willing that any should perish! SHARE JESUS <3
I have seen a few people in my life that shoot straight to a Scriptural phrase and speak it word for word, then also offer the number location in the Bible. To an average person that is looking for that lost part of their life, they have no clue what you just shared with them. It’s like a beautiful marriage, it doesn’t happen the first time you meet, you get to know them and let that person feel the Love that is in your life. Get to know your neighbor and you can better understand where they are in their life. That gives you the map to strike specific questions and allows you to introduce Gods Love in a low keyed manner. Remember, the person you are talking to is probably not at the level you are involved in Church and that could become as bad as another language. If you can not speak their language, then your message is going to end up very very limited. There is a difference in standing on a street corner yelling, JESUS LOVE YOU, or just simply letting the person know that someone loves them.
The obedience Jesus requires of us is to love God and neighbor. The way we preach the Gospel is to live it out before others in our lives. That includes words, but the words are meaningless to most people if only words come their way and no love, no caring, no relationship. After all, even Satan can quote Scripture.
We know many people who have heard “the gospel” hundreds and often thousands of times, but have never really “heard” it. As one group of fellows we know said after yet another “Christian” group moved on after their presentation, “Yeah, like they think we want to be clones of them.” These fellows told us that “people like them come by all the time peddling their religion, then beat it out of here.” These fellows saw no love, no caring and not interest in any relationship.
As one woman told us “Look, I’ve been down here for nearly twenty years. I’ve seen thousands of these religious people, yet I can count on the fingers of one hand those who really cared about me. Most of the rest are phonies, selling religion to make them feel better about themselves. They tell me I’m going to hell, then feel good about themselves.”
By all means, preach the gospel. And, after you’ve done it with your life, do it with your words if necessary. When you love and care, you will be asked why. Have an answer ready. Because they ask, they will listen to your answer.
Yes very true and as the saying goes……Actions speak louder than words. I believe it is just the right thing to do. To love our fellow human beings. They see the love of God in action through us and not only in love but in our word, in conduct, in faith, in purity as told in 1 Tim 4:12. Although we may not be giving them Gospel Tracts or other forms of evangelistic materials we can be the only Gospel Tract they read. I remember Paul writing to the Corinthian Church saying..” You are our Epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men”. 2 Cor 3:2
Thank you and God Bless
this really helped me out for my bible study that i’m going to try to start at school. this also helped me out with this girl at my school who doesn’t think shes worth it.
Great post! Thanks for the tips. I appreciate the focus on love instead of winning proselytes.
I enjoyed your article, but as servant, teacher, and evangelist, and pastor, Jesus commanded his followers to become “Fishers of Men”, that’s called Evangelism (Sharing the Gosple/good news) (Mark 1:17) In Luke 14:23, Jesus specifically told his disciples ” Go into the highways and by-ways and compel them to come, so my father’s house may be full.”
It’s actually being led by the Holy Spirit, when to share, and how we share Jesus with them. There is a such thing as personal evangelism, when you just ” Get to know the persons, God has placed in your space. Biblically, its one-on-one evangelism.
Our ministry feeds, clothes, aids by whatever in giving, giving, and giving. Jesus made mention that the, 4,000 he fed, was only with him for the fishes/loaves. (people do that all the time)
There is a harvest, of lost bound souls, who are in need of a savior, and that’s why Jesus died. Now, remember, it’s an invitation. Of course, we’re supposed to show Christian acts of love, mercy, and kindness, which reflects Christ, who fed the multitude with natural food and spiritual food also.
The real purpose of sharing Jesus Christ, because it’s appointed unto men once to die (Hebrews 9:27), and after death, is an eternal judgement of Heaven or Hell. That’s why we tell them, about John 3:16.
Dr. Pastor, Patryce Jenkins, Th.D.