History’s most pivotal spiritual moment is celebrated at Easter. When we look at the example of Christ on the cross, we tend to distance our own lives from His in that we could not possibly die for others as He did. Yet Scripture clearly calls on us to echo Jesus’ example in our leadership. In Matthew 16:24, “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” This is clearly a call to every disciple to put others ahead of themselves in a profound way. Denying self, and taking up our “cross”—an instrument of torture—is not merely figurative speech. 

Jesus is telling us that following Him will require risking our own well-being in favor of something more meaningful. Perhaps the greatest way we can echo the life of Christ as His followers is in how we love others. Jesus reminds us in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” In our self-centered culture, showing genuine love to others is indeed a unique and stand-out lifestyle. As leaders there are three important love-centered actions in response to Easter that we can live out, and that will impact our lives throughout the year. 

Leaders can love through sacrifice. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” On the cross Jesus demonstrated the depths to which He would go to love us. In Romans 5:8 we read that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If we ever wonder whether or not God loves us, we need only look at the cross of Jesus Christ. And just as Jesus sacrificed Himself, we too can be mindful of ways we can sacrifice for others. 

How can you show sacrificial love?

• Model love in your family relationships. Begin with your spouse and children, then siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Be willing to put aside your own interests and wants for their benefit.

• Show love through worship, not only in your church attendance, Bible study, prayer and singing songs, but in your ministry service and your stewardship.

• Give love to the marginalized. Jesus spent so much time during His life on earth with the sick, the outcast, the most hated in society. Are there people in these categories who may benefit from your sacrificial love for them?

Leaders can love through service. Service is a physical expression of a kind thought or gesture. Before He was arrested and killed, Jesus took time in the Upper Room to eat with His disciples and explain to them what was about to occur on the cross. But He did something else—He took time to wash their feet. This simple act was in Jesus’ day done by the lowest servant in the household. Jesus was showing His disciples His love for them through His service. 

How can you show love through service?

• Use your talents and skills to benefit others. It might be helping someone balance their checkbook, or doing service on their car, or assisting in a needed repair project.

• Give time to those in need, whether it is raking a yard, or taking a neighbor’s kids for the day so they can handle some household tasks, or providing a meal for someone who has just gotten out of the hospital.

• Serve “the least of these”, by working at a soup kitchen, or volunteering to teach English as a second language (ESL). Or how about that homeless person with the sign at the intersection near your home? Maybe roll the window down and engage them next time.

Leaders can love through grace. Grace is a word we don’t use often in modern speech. Grace is defined as unmerited favor. We benefit from something that we did not earn. Jesus’ death on the cross, His payment for the penalty of our sin, and the gift of His resurrection, were ultimate acts of grace. 

How can you show grace to others?

• Forgive someone who has wronged you. Maybe a coworker who didn’t pull their weight, or a friend who borrowed something and never returned it. Have the grace to just let it go.

• Bless someone for no reason. Buy a coffee for the person in line behind you, or cook dinner for your spouse as a surprise, or identify a charity to which you can give an unexpected contribution.

• Restore a broken relationship. Do you have a relative or friend who angered you? Did you experience a situation with someone close and now you’ve grown apart? Give grace by initiating a conversation, and put restoring the relationship ahead of “being right”. 

Easter is when we remember the sacrificial action of Jesus on our behalf. It is also an opportunity to engage in leadership personally as we respond to Jesus by loving our friends, coworkers, neighbors and community. When we love through sacrifice, service and grace, we echo the love of Christ with our lives, and point others to the Christ of Easter.