There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13
What comes to mind when you think of the word “love?” Maybe a loved one comes to mind when you think about the word “love.” Perhaps your favorite romantic comedy comes to mind. Maybe the word “love” makes you think about different ways that someone can make you feel loved. While none of these answers are wrong, Scripture teaches that there is a better definition for love, and that is sacrifice. You see, true, Christlike love requires sacrifice, giving up our own ways and desires for the sake of the people around us. That is the way that Jesus loves, and the way He calls His followers to love.
As Jesus spent some of His last moments with His disciples, He took time to teach them, as He had been doing for three years, for one final time. As He taught, He tenderly reminded them how much He loved them. He said, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me” (verse 9). Then, He said, “Remain in my love” (verse 9). Several verses later, He continued, saying, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you” (verse 12). In case they wondered exactly what this kind of love looks like, Jesus then said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (verse 13). How did Jesus love? He sacrificed. In fact, He sacrificed to the greatest extent: giving up His own life so that everyone would have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him forever if they place their faith in Him. It is this kind of sacrificial, life-giving love that we are called to show to others.
While "sacrifice" is not often the first word that comes to mind when we think about the word "love," it is precisely how Jesus defined love. He loved so extravagantly that He laid down His own life to offer salvation. This is how Jesus understood love, and it is how He calls us to love as well.
Imagine if every follower of Christ committed to loving the people around them by sacrificing. How might marriages be transformed if husbands and wives both committed to sacrifice their own needs and desires for the needs and desires of each other? How might the people around us, including our neighbors, be impacted if we committed to a lifestyle of sacrifice? Life is short, my friend. Let’s commit to a life of sacrifice, just as Jesus did, even when it costs us. This starts with our marriages and extends to our neighbors, coworkers, and everyone we interact with.
Displaying sacrificial love does not come naturally. In fact, what does come naturally is self-preservation. To truly love in the way Jesus did, we need God to transform our lives. For the next few moments, ask God to transform your heart. Ask Him to give you a spirit of sacrifice and love, starting with your spouse and extending on to the people you interact with every single day.
John 15:12-27
12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. 22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. 25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
26 “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.
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