by David Chadwick As followers of Jesus, we are to be demonstrators of love because God is love. As we understand more and more who God is, our lives will emulate the characteristics of agape love. What helps you live a life of love? Look at the cross. Remember it. Stare at it. Remind yourself of its power. Jesus’s pain. His suffering. The price he paid all because he loves you. He took all that pain upon himself as a substitute for your sins. It was our cross. Our sins deserved that punishment. But Jesus went through it on our behalf. Read and reread 1 John 4:10. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Real love is that God loved us first! He initiated the love relationship. He made the first phone call, so to speak. There was nothing meritorious in us to make him love us, but he did! And he gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins! Contemplate that! Wow! This is how Jesus wants us to love others. In John 13:34-35 he says, “...just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Take a moment and think about all of the ways Jesus has loved you. Starting with the cross. Loving others as he has loved you. Yes, even difficult people. Even your enemies (Matthew 5:44). Maybe it’s a person in your family. Your spouse. Your kids. Someone in your workplace whom you are called to love. Remember a time when you know God expressed his love to you. A time he healed you. A moment where you felt alone and God comforted you. Once you start thinking about the list, it’s almost hard to stop. You’ll begin to see God in everything and the love in your heart for him and for others will increase. The cross is just the starting point for a life of love. Contemplate the cross! It’s there where you begin to learn a life of love.