She Loves Me Like Jesus Does...No She Doesn't!

Country singer Eric Church has a song out entitled, "Loves Me Like Jesus".  Here's a line from the song:

I'm a lead foot leaning on a souped-up Chevy,
I'm a good old boy, drinking whiskey and rye on the levee
But she carries me when my sins make me heavy,
And loves me like Jesus does.

My wife and I were driving somewhere when the song came on the radio.  To be honest she tolerates my passion for country music.  Actually I listen to just about everything, but rap.  Just quite never got the hang of that one.  As the song came on she said, "No she doesn't! It's impossible for anyone to love like Jesus!"
While I knew what Eric Church saying, I had to agree with my 30-year bride.  It is humanly impossible to love others like Jesus.  Jesus' love is a perfect love without any conditions.  Human love is not perfect and even the best come to the table with at least some kind of presupposition, prejudice, or bias.  We are incapable of fully loving like Jesus, on our own.

However, we can strive to love like Jesus.  The Holy Spirit enables us to love others like Jesus loves.  The point of the song is that this woman loves a sinful man despite his wayward lifestyle and flaws.  She is a grace-giver and that is something all of us can aspire to be toward others.  Especially those who have hurt, or wounded us!  This is sacrificial love.  The same love Jesus extends to us, despite our sin.  On the night of His arrest and betrayal Jesus challenged the disciples to strive for this kind of love:      

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The Spirit of God living within the human soul is the only way we can attempt to love as Jesus does.  And the ultimate test is our ability to love those with whom we disagree, or those who have hurt, wounded, or offended us.  It's easy to love those who think and talk like us, agree with us, or share our worldview.  But it's harder to love those who don't.  
The ultimate proof of Christ-like love is the ability to acknowledge and suspend our presuppositions, or fixed attitudes and simply love someone because Jesus commands it.  But those of us who claim to have personally experienced Christ-like love realize that loving others as Christ is the only appropriate response when we consider how He has loved us!  

So while the song may present a theological challenge it challenges us to love as Jesus loves.  And that's exactly what Christ asks of every person who calls Him, Lord!