What does it mean to love like Jesus? Can we even attain the same level of love that He gives? The short answer is no, we will never be able to exude perfect love but we can walk with Him and love like Him. Love as Jesus loves should be our ultimate desire as a mom, even during the days of motherhood chaos!
Motherhood can be trying. And not for the reasons we might think. Of course, we love our children, that isn’t even a question. The hard part is loving them when you are tired, worn out and they are acting like little monkeys.
Part of the problem is we throw around the word “love” when it has a deeper meaning to it. Love is a feeling but it also is an action. It’s the way we behave towards someone, how we speak to them, how we care for them and how we show them what we feel.
As moms, sometimes we need a little extra help showing our kids that we love them. We say it to them but we need to love like Jesus loves. We need to be selfless, kind, firm and caring. Even on our hardest days when we feel like we are being crushed from all sides, the way we love our children should not change.
Love Like Jesus
So how do we love like Jesus on those difficult days?
We will be using the passage from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. It doesn’t seem very long but these verses provide a foundation for what motherhood love should look like because it explains what love is and what it isn’t.
These verses may be familiar as they are often used at weddings and rightly so. The way we love our husbands is the same as how we love our children. A deep love, that is rooted in God’s promises and binds two people together for life.
The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 is about love but this section is particularly applicable to moms because it discusses areas of our lives where we may struggle every day. This is the perspective we will be taking, love for our children. You can draw your parallels for your spouse too though!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind.
The start of these verses is the motherhood standard. Also the Christian standard. Be patient and kind! God’s love provides us with these things when we fall short but we know we need to have a heart of patience and kindness.
This means we need to slow down. Perhaps we need to look at things from our child’s perspective. I have to remind myself of this with my children. They see something, they think of something and they simply must show me or explain it to me.
Do I have an extra 45 seconds to listen to them or engage in their moment of exploration? Absolutely. Will my world fall apart because I gave my children that extra time, provided them with patience to enjoy their world or learn something new? No it will not.
Children need patience because they live in a different time than we do. They have no concept of what the clock says. Just as we have no concept of God’s timing. When we ask God for a minute to listen to our worries, He doesn’t tell us to wait because He has more important things to do. He listens intently. His love is always available to us.
So we need to make ourselves available to our children, as much as possible anyway.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
Oh the struggle of seeing what other moms do and wishing we could do the same. Or seeing what other moms do and being proud that we don’t do that.
Motherhood can entrap us in feeling jealous or proud. Especially with social media, where it is easy to compare one snapshot of someone else’s life to a very long stretch of our own.
God doesn’t compare you to anyone else, so you don’t need to do it either.
But just as our spiritual journey is our own, so is our motherhood journey. Who we are as parents is between us and God. We can’t be any other parent than what our child needs. We should not boast about who we are as moms because no other mom can be like us, because they also need to be the mom their children need.
Love does not insist on it’s own way, it is not irritable and keeps no record of wrongs
Yikes. I don’t know about you, but that verse always smacks me in the face. This is from the NLT translation which I don’t always use, but in this case, I do because one of my weaknesses is irritability.
And yet, here it is, very clearly that God’s perfect love is not irritable. It does not insist on having its way or keeping records of wrongs.
Ouch. I’ll be honest with y’all, this right here is the struggles that I face day in and day out. My husband can attest to my irritability and I am blessed to have an incredibly patient man who is not swayed by my changing moods.
But I know that asking God to forgive me, walk with me and fill me with His love, every day is the only way to combat this. If I want to be a mom full of love, a mom who loves unconditionally, this is an area I have to work on.
It means keeping no record of the work you are doing in your home. It’s being joyful in your task not because you have to do something but because you get to do it out of love! It’s choosing God’s joy rather than our human frustrations. It’s consciously asking God to be with you during the motherhood chaos so you truly can love like Jesus!
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It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love is truth. It cannot be anything but truth. 3 John 1:4 says “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
The truth can be hard to swallow. Sometimes we would rather leave some things unsaid or unknown, but to love to the fullest, we have to rejoice when truth wins out.
Sometimes God’s plans are not the direction we wanted for our family. Perhaps there is a career path or job God needs someone to take on. If we bury our heads in the sand and pretend like we don’t hear what God wants, how can we possibly love someone and help them through it?
Whatever your truth is in your home or your family, do not be deceived by lies. Pray and ask God to reveal to you what it is you need to see clearly. Do not let the untrue things become your truth because you will not be able to walk in God’s love.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.
I love this last verse because I think it sums up what a mom is. Moms never give up. They never lose faith in their Heavenly Father or their children. They remain hopeful, steadfast and standing firm on the foundation of Jesus’ love. Through every circumstance, through all the motherhood chaos, their love is unwavering.
This is the most powerful part about loving like Jesus. Jesus’ love was one of selflessness. He gave Himself up for us and His love overcame death.
In our Christian homes, this is the foundation we need to have. A foundation of Jesus’ love that will endure every storm. No circumstance will not be overcome by God’s love, if we as moms hold fast to His truths and love like Jesus we will be the beacon in our home that builds a foundation of faith for our children.
Love in Motherhood Chaos
The days of motherhood can seem long and short at the same time. The chaos can feel suffocating but through it all, if our eyes are on Jesus and we are loving with the same love He has, then we know we are growing a home with a foundation of faith, hope and love.
For more Bible encouragement specifically for motherhood, grab these scripture cards from my Etsy store.
When our children see the way we love them, when they feel this love, they grow up feeling secure and confident. There truly is no storm that can shake them when they have been loved the way Jesus loves them!
Do not be shaken by the motherhood chaos. Do not let it change how you perceive your family. Ask God for His peace, His patience and His love. Let Him restore your soul and help you love like Jesus loves!
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