Ten ways Jesus showed love

I ran across this posting over at the Creedal Christian. Here's a sample, but make sure you read the whole thing.

Jesus expressed his great love for people in ten dramatic ways. The gospels show us his immense compassion for the suffering, his attentive listening presence, and his energetic celebration of the lives around him. Here are ten ways Jesus demonstrated agape – the Greek word for unconditional, self-sacrificing love – and what we can learn from him.

1. The Way of Compassion
Jesus is depicted in the gospels as a healer who responded to the needs of the suffering even on the Sabbath and was roundly criticized for this by the authorities. He responded to those who would otherwise have been stoned to death. Compassion was perfectly captured in his parable of the Good Samaritan, a man who responded immediately and directly to a wounded man bleeding by the side of the road. Nothing could make him act in a way contrary to compassion – not a busy schedule or social stigma, as in the case of the Samaritan woman most others would not talk to. Jesus just did what compassion requires, whenever and wherever.

2. The Way of Attentive Listening
In interacting with others, Jesus was extraordinarily attentive, showing a humble willingness to respond in depth to what others had spoken. In his many healings, people cry out to him in need. Simply by listening and a touch, he offered them hope and wholeness. He listened carefully to his enemies and responded to them thoughtfully. He had immense patience with his disciples even when he had every reason to be impatient.

3. The Way of “Carefrontation”
Jesus was a master of caring confrontation. He practiced nonviolent resistance to evil, and it was his teaching and example that would inspire Gandhi and the great African-American Christian leaders of the civil rights movement. Jesus asked Peter to put down his sword; he said that those who live by the sword die by it. But he also confronted spiritual hypocrites and the many moneychangers who had set up shop in the Temple. He was constantly challenging people to think and act lovingly, and this meant that he had often to take the risk of confrontation when he saw destructive attitudes and behaviors around him.