While hosting Bible study at my house this summer, I made a comment to my group about how unruly my lawn had gotten over the past few weeks. A couple days later, a friend from Bible study offered to mow my lawn for me out of the blue. I figured she was joking–who would want to mow someone else’s lawn on a Friday night? But she wasn’t joking. And by mowing my lawn, she reminded me how to love others like God.
As my friend demonstrated with her kindness that day, we all have a duty to be showing god’s love to others and sharing God’s love with others. Showing love to one another is how we are distinguished as a follower of Christ, and it allows us to take part of God’s plan and will.
But sharing the love of God doesn’t have to be complicated. You can show love to others and share the love of Jesus with these 10 wonderful and practical ways to love others like God. After all, we were meant to live in community with others.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information.
Showing God’s Love to Others
I could have titled this post showing love to others, but I want to talk specifically about how to love others like God loves us. As the God of the universe, God has set our world in motion, designed it, and brought order to it. He’s also made us in His image and likeness.
So when it comes to love, why wouldn’t we look to our God and Father in Heaven? He has shown His love to us in incredible ways and continues to love us. In fact, the Bible says that God is love.
How to Love Others like God
In the scripture above, God defines love for us. “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” (1 John 4:10 ESV).
When we study scriptures about God’s love, we find that God’s greatest demonstration of his love for us was through the sacrifice of Jesus. That sacrifice paid the penalty fo our sins and made peace between us and God.
So when thinking about how to love others like God, Jesus Christ is the example.
Show Love to One Another with Jesus’ Example
What I find most fascinating about God’s demonstration of love is how much we, mankind, did not deserve it. The love that God lavished on us was unmerited and yet unconditional and unfailing. Even when we fail, God is still faithful.
Think of what Jesus says in the sermon on the Mount: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46 ESV).
The greatness of God’s love comes from the gracious way he bestowed it to those who had rebelled against him — sinners like you and me.
What else does the Bible say about God’s love?
Besides the fact that God’s love is undeserved by mankind, the Bible has lots more to say on the topic. In the Bible, God’s love is described as kind, patient, generous, merciful, unfailing, and unending.
The passage 1 Corinthians 13 goes on to say that God’s love does not keep record of wrongs. It detests evil and does not envy or boast.
God’s love is pure and perfect.
1 John 4:18-19
But that’s just the start. The Bible is full of scriptures about God’s love and the stories of the Bible demonstrate the power of God’s love, too.
How to Love Others according to the Bible
Once we’ve understood and accepted God’s love for us, we can then begin to love others like God has loved us. The Bible gives us guidelines on how to love others like God:
Be a Friend
- Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity” (NIV). Through thick and thin, a friend is there to support and encourage.
Treat others how you would like to be Treated
- Before there was such a thing as the golden rule, Jesus said, “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:39b NKJV).
Share Burdens
- Human connection is a gift from God, and He created us to be in relationship with each other. One of the reasons I believe He designed us this way is so that we can share each other’s burdens. Whatever we are going through, we don’t need to carry it alone.
Sharpen Others
- “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17 ESV). This is Solomon’s way of saying give each other “tough love.” When we want the best for someone, sometimes we need to give them “tough love.” Through our encouragement and tough conversations, we help them become more like Christ.
Forgive Others
- To forgive doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to let whoever hurt you completely back into your life. Forgiveness is about your heart and letting go of animosity, bitterness, and anger. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV)
Humble Yourself and Consider Others
- Jesus has said, “‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friend’” (John 15:13 NKJV). While many of us won’t have the chance to lay down our lives for our friends, we can love others through humility. When Jesus laid down his life for us, He humbled himself and considered the needs of broken mankind above all.
Sharing God’s Love with Others
It’s impossible to talk about ways to show the love of God to others without mentioning sharing God’s love, too. For those who may never pick up a Bible, our words and actions can point them to salvation through Jesus and God’s love.
After graduating college, I went on a mission trip to Toronto, Canada. Canada is only about two percent evangelical, so it was very difficult, and at times discouraging, to talk to people about the gospel.
But through showing God’s love we were able to also share God’s love.
We hosted a family carnival for example, gave away snowcones, played games, and prayed for people to show the love of Christ to the Toronto community. From there, we were able to start conversations about Jesus and salvation and share the love of Jesus with individuals we met.
How do you share God with others?
Words are a powerful way to share God with others. Through the use of Scripture and our life experiences, we can tell the story of God’s love and how Jesus Christ has redeemed us.
But from my mission trip in Toronto, I learned the importance of acting in a manner that is showing God’s love to others, too.
Your actions will mimic your values and those you respect and admire. If the one you worship and imitate is Jesus Christ, then naturally your actions will reflect the light of Jesus to others.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
People pick up on our actions: how we behave, how we treat others, and how we get along with others. Then from our actions, they decide who we are. If our actions imitate Christ, then they will see that we truly belong to Christ.
10 Ways to Show God’s Love to Others
Sharing God with others through our actions is often more powerful than our words and speech. It shows you truly believe in God’s love and sharing God’s love if you change your actions to mimic the greatest example of God’s love: Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the one who has demonstrated the greatest love for us by giving his life for us (John 15:13). Before and after His death, Jesus commands us to show the same kind of love toward each other.
With these “sharing God’s love” bible verses in mind, here are 10 wonderful and simple ways that you can show God’s love to others.
The first three ways to show the love of God to others focus on how to love others like God. We do that through prayer, friendship, and fellowship.
1 – Love Others By Praying for Them
Prayer is a powerful tool which allows us to connect with God and pour our hearts out to him. Because Jesus has erased our sin and made us right with God, we can have confidence that God hears our prayers.
But prayers aren’t just about us! Jesus prayed for his disciples, and we can also pray on behalf of others. My pastor put it this way: we can send blessings over to those who need it with express delivery through prayer.
- Pray that they might have:
You could actually send them a prayer journal, too, like this prayer journal for the Psalms from DaySpring, but you may need to handle the shipping. Or send them a card to let them know that you’re praying for them. I love these boxed card set from Dayspring and lik to kep them handy for anyone who needs encouragement or a reminder of God’s love.
2 – Love Others by Encouraging Them
Kind and gentle words can soothe a troubled soul. Whether you say these words in person or in a letter. Whether you scribble them on a sticky note and stick them on a mirror, your encouragement goes a long way.
If you’re feeling lost on how to encourage someone, start with scripture or find some prayer cards. These 90 encouraging inspiration cards include inspiring quotes and Bible Verses on 3 themes: Love is Kind, Inpowered, and God’s Promises. They come in a cute box have a blank back, where you can write a personal note.
You can write your own encouragement on these cards and give to others. Or you can get a group together to each pick a card and write a personal note. Then you all can give someone the box of 30 cards to comfort and encourage them when they need it most.
Related: KJL Co. Free Collection of Encouraging Phone Wallpapers
3 – Love Others by Spending Time with Them
Showing love to someone doesn’t always mean buying a gift or spending a lot of money on an extravagant trip or dinner. You can show love to others simply by spending time with them.
Let the person you love choose the activity, put your phone and laptop away, and give them your undivided attention.
We are so busy all of the time that multitasking has become natural to us! But truthfully, multitasking just divides our attention. We miss things. We become distracted. We respond without truly listening.
Sharing the Love of God through Hospitality
No list for how to love others like God would be complete without hospitality.
Whether you are entertaining angels or not, hospitality is a great way to show brotherly love to one another. Here are 4 examples of actions that show love for god through hospitality.
4 – Show God’s Love by Hosting Others
Opening up your home is a way that you can show God’s love to others and serve others as well. It’s always cozier and more intimate when I attend Bible Study at someone’s house or host it at my apartment.
Others at my church have opened up their homes to my church group for events like women’s gatherings and Christmas parties. Anytime you invite others into your home, you are showing God’s love because God has done the same to us.
Jesus invites us to abide with him, dine with him, and ultimately, to spend eternity with him.
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
John 15:8-10 (ESV)
5 – Show God’s Love by Cooking and Sharing a Meal
You can invite others over to your residence and give them a home cooked meal or pick up something on the way home and drop it off at the neighbor’s house. However you decide to do it, giving someone a meal is a great way to show hospitality and show God’s love to others.
6 – Show God’s Love by Providing Transportation
You may be reading these ways to show the love of God through hospitality and think, well, my house/apartment is too small or I’m a terrible cook. No worries! Do you have a vehicle?
You can serve and love others by giving them a lift. For example, my roommate currently doesn’t have a car. It’s been amazing to see how people have stepped up to help her by giving rides to and from school and taking her to the grocery store.
It may seem like a small gesture, but being chauffeured around is always appreciated, especially when we don’t have transportation
7 – Show God’s Love by Inviting Others into Your Life
If you have neither a home for hosting nor cooking skills nor a vehicle, you can still show God’s love to others through hospitality. In fact, when I first learned about hospitality, it was while I was in college.
My dorm was teeny-tiny. I had no car. And even though I had mediocre cooking skills, there was no kitchen for me to use. So in a situation like that, how does one show hospitality?
It is by inviting others to do life with you. It means inviting them to experience life with you and participating in theirs.
Thus, by showing hospitality to them in this way, you act as the hands and feet of God. You are being a beautiful example of God’s love and reminding the person that they are loved by God.
How to Show God’s Love to Others
Hospitality, prayer, encouragement, time, and attention are great ways that we can show God’s love to others. In addition to those, I’ve included some additional ways that people have shown God’s love to others and to me.
While these things may seem small or insignificant, they’ve had a huge impact on me and shown me what God’s love is really like. This is how to love like God.
8 – Love Others by Praying with Them
Earlier I mentioned the importance of praying for someone. However, praying with someone can be even more powerful.
There are times when we know we need prayer, but we are too tired or overwhelmed to find the right words to say. It is such a blessing to have a friend nearby who bows their head and prays the words you can’t find the strength to pray.
Two friends of mine, my prayer warrior friends, often do this for me when I’m feeling anxious, stressed, or overwhelmed by fear.
Their words comfort and encourage me, and also remind me that God is listening and watching out for me.
I’ve also prayed with people whom I didn’t know well. On the first day I met a coworker, she told me she feared losing her job, so I asked her if I could pray for her. She surprised me when she said yes, but then we both bowed our heads and prayed.
It was the start of a great friendship where we were showing love to one another and sharing the love of God with each other.
9 – Love Others by Forgiving Them
Although I mentioned this in the section about “How to Love Others According to the Bible,” it definitely bears repeating. When I have been wronged, there is a period of mourning and hurt. The last thing on my mind is forgiveness.
However, just as Jesus has reconciled us to God (making peace between us and God), Jesus wants us to be reconciled with each other through forgiveness.
10 – Show God’s Love by Doing Chores for Others
Lastly, you can show God’s love to others by simply helping out with their chores and daily tasks. I use the word chores because we all have different tasks that we hate or that take a lot of energy.
For some, it’s going grocery shopping. For someone else, it may be walking the dog, raking the leaves, or mopping the floors.
As I mentioned in the intro, for me, it’s mowing the lawn. I’m so grateful for my friend who volunteered to mow my lawn. She knew how to love other like God, and she did it even when it was inconvenient for her.
Bonus Way #11: You can show them God’s love by encouraging their faith with a Faithbox, a Christian subsciption box, full of goodies straight to their door.
Faithbox Monthly Subscription – $25.00
from: Faithbox
How to Love Others Like God
With all that I’ve listed in this article, loving others like God seems like a full time job, doesn’t it? There are so many different ways that we can serve and love others.
On top of that, it should be something that we strive to do, as God commands us in the Bible to love our neighbor, to love our brother, and to love others. However, God does not leave us to our own devices to show the love of God to others.
God has given us a helper, the Holy Spirit, to empower us, strengthen us, and encourage us with God’s love. In this way, we are overflowing with God’s love and are able to pour love into other people without exhausting ourselves.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
From these Bible Verses about sharing the love of God, we know that:
Because the Holy Spirit is love, God’s love is within us.
Kara J Lovett Co.
How do we show God we love Him?
Another important part about showing God’s love to others is that we must love God first. When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment is, he is clear that we should first love God, then love others.
God desires to know us and fill us with His love. He wants us to know Him and delight in Him. But how?
When it comes to how to show love for God, the primary way we do that is spending time with Him even in our busy lives. As a natural result of a strong relationship with God, we will desire to share God’s love with others.
Bottom Line: How to Show Love to Others
Since the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, it is something that I need to take more seriously. Life gets busy, work gets crazy, and soon I forget the importance of sharing God’s love with others.
After writing this article, my next step is to humble myself before God and ask Him to fill me with the love of God so that I can share God’s love with others.
Secondly, I pray that He would open my eyes to the different needs of those around me. I ask that He reveal how to show love to my neighbor in my community.
In the wonderful ways that God has blessed me, I hope that I may bless others, including you. So, now that you know how to love others like God, pick one of these 10 wonderful ways to show God’s love and go share God’s love with someone!
How do you show God’s love to others?
Leave me a comment below!
Check out More Posts about Growing in Faith:
- 5 Keys to Accepting God’s Love
- 30+ Beautiful and Inspiring Verses about God’s Love
- 7 Characteristics of a Prayer Warrior Friend
- Lessons and Stories to Help You Unlock the Power of Prayer
Join our Email List!
Hey there! You don’t have to navigate the adulting struggle on your own. Here at Kara J Lovett Co., we want to support you while you’re figuring things out and getting it together.
That’s why we’ve made the “Getting It Together Guide”: 25 pages of support, encouragement, practical tips, prayers, devotionals, and resources for the adulting struggle.
Subscribe to our site for access to the guide, regular post updates, fun freebies, and printables! Or find out more about our premium Getting it Together Guide here.
Pingback: Tobias and Puah Celebrate
Pingback: Blog 8: Because of You – Journaling With Joseph
Amazing! Thanks for the word.
Hi Darwin,
I am so glad you found this post helpful. Thank you for visiting the blog and leaving a comment.
~Trish, from KJL Co.