Becoming Love: If We Start at Finish, Where Do We End? (Part 4)نموونە

Day Nineteen - The Good Shepherd

Have you ever considered that the most profound act of love isn’t something you do or receive, but something you become?

What if the love Jesus displayed on the cross is the very love we are now empowered to live out?

Picture a flock of sheep wandering across the hills. They are fragile, dependent creatures—unable to survive on their own. They need food to sustain them, shelter to cover them, direction to guide them, and protection to keep them safe. At times, they even stumble into danger or fall down a cliff, unable to rescue themselves.

And yet, there is One Person, Jesus, who meets all these needs—not simply by providing food, shelter, or safety, but by giving them something far greater: Himself.

In today’s passage, we find Jesus describing Himself as the Good Shepherd. The heart of this passage is that the Good Shepherd sacrifices everything for His sheep, which is seen as the ultimate act of love: laying down His life, choosing their lives above His own. He doesn’t just watch over His sheep from a distance or protect them from predators. He becomes the embodiment of love for them.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, doesn’t merely do loving things — He becomes love itself. In our culture, love is often portrayed as something that serves us, something that feels good. But Jesus redefines love as something that costs. It’s a love that gives everything.

But what does this look like in our everyday lives? As Christians, we are called to become love by shepherding others —not just in our churches or ministries, but in our families, friendships, and workplaces. We are called to love others sacrificially. This means that we don’t just love when it’s easy or convenient; we love when it’s hard. We love when it requires us to give up our time, our resources, and sometimes even our own comfort. We shepherd others by serving, by caring, and by making the difficult choice to love even when it costs us something.

We read in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

This is the reality of what happens when we come into union with Christ—the love He displayed on the cross becomes the love we live out, not by our own effort, but by becoming love through being in union with Christ.

The invitation is not just to admire the love of Jesus, but to recognise that this is now true of us. It is the ‘new normal’ for those who are in Christ. Jesus is not just the one we are called to become like—He is the living picture of who we are in Him.

Who in your life right now is God calling you to shepherd with sacrificial love—even if it costs you time, comfort, or resources—and what step will you take this week to love them as Christ loves you?”