(Jhn) 13:15, 32, 34-35 CJB “For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you. If the Son has glorified God, God will himself glorify the Son, and will do so without delay. “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other.”

Sacrificial love is one of the clearest ways the character of Jesus should become visible in the life of a Christian man. God isn’t merely teaching us what Jesus is like. He is conforming those who belong to Christ into the image of His Son.

Romans 8:29 describes Jesus as “the firstborn among many brothers.” Jesus is the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man, and God’s children are being transformed into His image.

So what does becoming like Jesus actually look like?

John 13 gives us a powerful answer.

It looks like getting down and serving.

Sacrificial Love Looks Like Jesus

Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and then said, “I have set you an example.”

Think about who was kneeling with the towel.

The eternal Son of God.

Yet Jesus willingly assumed the position of a servant.

Paul describes this same attitude in Philippians 2. Although Christ existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to exploit for His own advantage. Instead, He humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient even to death on a cross.

That’s sacrificial love.

Jesus’ service ultimately went far beyond washing feet. He gave Himself for us. His love for the Father produced perfect obedience to the Father’s will, and His love for His people led Him to lay down His life for them.

Then Jesus says: “In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other.”

That’s a staggering standard.

Love the Family Like Jesus Loves the Family

Jesus isn’t merely commanding us to feel affection toward other Christians. He commands us to love one another as He loved us.

That means love becomes service.

Love becomes humility.

Love becomes sacrifice.

Christian men should therefore be willing to use our time, money, abilities, possessions, influence, and strength for the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Their worldly status doesn’t matter.

Neither does ours.

If God the Son could kneel before His disciples and wash their feet, what position could possibly make us too important to serve another child of God?

And Jesus says something remarkable will happen when we live this way: “Everyone will know that you are my talmidim.”

The world should be able to look at the way Christians care for one another and see evidence that we belong to Jesus.

Our Persecuted Family Needs Sacrificial Love

This has profound implications for how we think about persecuted Christians around the world.

Our brothers and sisters suffering violence, displacement, poverty, imprisonment, and persecution aren’t strangers who happen to share our religion.

They’re family.

Their suffering should matter to us precisely because they belong to Christ.

We should pray for them. Speak about them. Give generously. Support ministries serving them. And where God gives us opportunity, use our resources and influence to help them.

It is difficult to claim that we’re becoming like Jesus while remaining indifferent to suffering members of Jesus’ family.

Our love cannot stop with words.

Jesus’ didn’t.

Run Today’s Play

Ask yourself:

What am I sacrificing right now for the welfare of another member of God’s family?

Not merely, “Do I love other Christians?”

What are you giving up because you love them?

Your time? Money? Comfort? Convenience? Attention? Influence?

Choose one brother or sister today whom you can serve at a genuine cost to yourself. Then do it quietly and humbly—not to be noticed, but because that’s how Jesus loved you.

We cannot live like Jesus without loving like Jesus. And we cannot love like Jesus without sacrificing for the welfare of those who belong to Jesus.

That’s what family does.

And that’s what our Savior showed us how to do.