May these examples inspire us to love like Jesus

This is my commandment: love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
—John 15:12-13

We often talk about loving like Jesus. In the early 1990s, Charles Sheldon authored a book, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? Many Christians wore wristbands with WWJD declaring their desire to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus.

Then the fad wore off, years passed, and the pandemic arrived. Somehow, many Christians forgot the command of Jesus to love each other in the way he loved us. The world was quickly divided into “people who think like I do and those who don’t.”

As I reflect on my own life and career, however, I have often witnessed people loving like Jesus. I thought it would be worth remembering some of those experiences:

• A nurse who adopted a NICU baby whose parents had abandoned her.
• A therapist who stayed late and missed the beginning of her sister’s birthday party because a client was in deep distress.
• A leader who calls or texts daily to her employees who are out sick or going through a crisis.
• Colleagues who went to the Parking Department to get a close parking spot for an employee who has difficulty walking.
• A faculty member who regularly purchases grocery gift cards to give students who are struggling.
• An employee who daily takes a glove when she visits the restroom in the TMC lobby so she can help clean it between times when EVS can service it.
• A nurse who mentors students from other countries, helping them navigate Southern California and taking them to Disneyland at her expense.
• An administrator who invites students to his home, offering encouragement and a home-cooked meal.
• Many employees who donate their PTO to colleagues who are facing crises.
• An employee who gave up his weekend off so he could take the shift of a colleague who wanted to attend her friend’s wedding.
• An administrative assistant who noticed a dejected employee walking into work and offered to pray with him.

It’s worth reflecting on what you have seen and observed. As we think of these stories, may they inspire us to love like Jesus loves.

—Kathy McMillan, MA, is director of Employee Spiritual Care for Loma Linda University Medical Center.