There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Love. It is the greatest virtue. It is the topic of countless songs and the subject of myriad poems. There is no greater power in existence than love. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and it endures through every circumstance.
God is love. He is the personification and incarnation of love as stated in 1 John 4:16. So, if love is the greatest virtue known to humanity, and if it is timeless and boundless and endless, and if love’s very definition is God Himself, then why is it also so diluted and trivialized in the world?
To look at the world’s view of love, one would believe it to be disposable, fake, a means to an end, and a word that is used to describe one’s attachment to their spouse or children and also to their car, dog, favorite foods, and television shows. What does real love, true love, Christ-like love even look like?
In a nutshell, it looks like sacrifice! Just as John wrote in the fifteenth chapter of the gospel bearing his name, there is no greater love than that which is displayed through sacrifice; literally, the laying down of one’s life for another. This should be done daily and will take on a variety of different appearances. Love for God will mean that you will daily lay down your will and your agenda in deference to His. Genuine love will find you turning away from the fulfillment of your own selfish, fleshly desires in order to obey God. True love is what enables you to be confronted with temptation and decide to steer clear.
Authentic love for Christ will be manifested in the way you treat others. Do you see your relationships as mission fields or as strings to be pulled for your benefit? What preoccupies your mind; thoughts of serving others or ways that others can do things for you? When you have idle moments to ponder life, do your thoughts drift toward ideas of how you can be a blessing to others or toward how others have disappointed you and let you down? A love that is modeled after Christ’s heart is not self-seeking, but self-sacrificing instead.
Sometimes one of the things we need to sacrifice in order to demonstrate love is our time. When we could be sleeping or recreating or even working, there are times when we need to choose differently how to use that time. Perhaps we need to give up some extra sleep in order to spend some time alone with God in prayer and the study of His word. How much time are you sacrificing in that area? An hour a day, half an hour, 15 minutes, 5 minutes? Your walk with God and the deepening of your relationship will be directly proportional to the amount of time you’re willing to sacrifice on behalf of that relationship. That concept applies to all of your relationships, actually. Perhaps you need to sacrifice some housework or yardwork time in order to sit down and talk with your children. When is the last time you had a heart-to-heart talk with them that wasn’t centered around an argument or some disciplinary scenario? Maybe you need to just leave the vacuum or the lawn mower idle today so you can toss the ball with your child or even be the one to invite them to play the Wii or go grab an ice cream cone. It is said that children spell love, “T-I-M-E.” Sacrifice some of that for them; they deserve it!
Other times love will be demonstrated through the sacrifice of resources. More than just tithing, which is the least of what God expects from our income, there are times when we need to dig deeper! We all make it a priority to spend money on the things we feel we need or really want. Where does the Kingdom of God rank in your checkbook? If tithing is still viewed as a sacrifice in your life, then giving an offering above that would have to seem like absolute torture. Does your budget reflect a sacrifice of love to God and to the others? How many debits have come out of your account lately on behalf of Jesus Christ? If you want to see a barometer of how genuine your love really is for God, pull out your check register or go to your online banking account and take a peek. Your love for God is inextricably connected to your obedience to Him through tighing and offering.
Finally, true love is often demonstrated through the sacrifice of comfort. God may call upon you to show your love for Him by being willing to leave the comfort of home and go serve His people in some other part of the country or world. Do you love Him enough to do that? God may ask you to end a relationship you’re in because it is not honoring to Him. Do you love Jesus more than this man or woman who is leading you astray? Or, God may ask you to stay in a marriage you’d rather leave, because God is more interested in your holiness than in your happiness. Do you love Christ enough to trust Him to change your spouse and your situation rather than trying to change them yourself? Perhaps God will even ask you to show your love for Him by leaving the comfort of complacency. Maybe there is a conversation you’ve been needing to have with a friend, and your avoidance of the matter is only making matters worse. Perhaps you need to jump off the pier of apathy and dive into confronting whatever the issue is. Is your friend lost and waiting to hear from you about Jesus? Is there an area of sin in a friend’s life that everyone else seems to be avoiding for fear of rejection? Do you love Jesus enough to sacrifice the comfort of pseudo-peace in particular situations in order to bring about healing and true restoration? Do you love God so much that you’re willing to sacrifice comfort in order to show commitment?
There are surely dozens of other ways love could and should be demonstrated. But, like one of our devotions said a few weeks ago, the bottom line is this: “There are times in life when you can make a sacrifice without loving, but you can never truly love without sacrificing.” Love equals sacrifice. How deep is your love?
Prayer
Lord, I have never known a love so deep and so sacrificial as Yours. You gave Your all for me, and the continued mercy that I receive from You every day of my life is a mind-blowing reminder that You still sacrifice for me. What I deserve is not what I get, and that kind of grace is amazing to me! Thank You, Jesus. Thank You! May my life be a reflection of the truth that I really do love You! In Your name I pray, Amen.