It just seems to go without saying that Christians should love Jesus. Love obviously means a lot of things, but one thing I have learned in life is that what one person thinks of as loving is not necessarily seen by someone else as loving. I have known women who love to get flowers. If you want to make an impression, send or bring some flowers. I have know others women who don’t really get all that excited about flowers. Why spend all that money on flowers. They will just die. If you want to say “I love you, then clean the bathroom.” That says I love you.
Who is right? Both! So the question is: Does Jesus give us any idea of what he thinks of as love. What can we do for him that says I love you?
John 21 and Matthew 10 are a couple of examples where Jesus says what it means to him to be loved. He asks Peter three times if he loves him. Peter says yes. Jesus tells him to “feed my sheep.” In Matthew 10 Jesus asks that we “take up the cross.” In these two cases I suggest he means that we join him in his mission.
I have tried to think of it in various ways. One way is that we make a list. Jesus should be at the top. OK. I like lists. They help keep me organized. Great.
Another way I think about it looks something like this:
Pardon my attempt at computer drawing. Here we see Jesus at the center along with other important things. Hopefully we keep Jesus as the biggest circle and keep him at the center.
However what about this picture?
Keeping Jesus first on your list is legitimate. So is keeping Jesus at the center and the biggest. However I find myself drawn to this model a but more than the others because it means Jesus encompasses all that we are involved in. In this model, we take Jesus with us (or take his mission to all these areas of our life).
Which model do you prefer? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
Barry
Tharsei 
I like both. I think loving Jesus, can be described in either illustration, as you mentioned that one might be right for one person and the other right for the next. Of course, it does not imply that one is wrong and the other right. I have another little illustration about “love.” see my blog at http://gvonjean.blogspot.com
See you tonight. Have a good rainy day!
I like the second model the best. It shows that Jesus is truly the center of everything, even if we are not a part of his.
Yes, love can be shown in many different ways and each one is and should be considered acceptable.
I think for Illustration purposes the second is more effective, considering if one of the circles gets larger indicating that a person is putting more time and attention to that interest, then the other circles must shrink in order to still be a part of the big circle. Clear as mud?