Love is Sacrificial
In West Virginia I was part of a group of pastors that had grown up together as West Virginia Baptist through youth events and summer camps. Some of us went to college together and we all were friends. We got together several times each year and discuss what was going on in our churches and what should be happening. These discussions would always end with the same question, "So, What are you going to do about it?" It was a call to action. We could not just talk about things we must act to bring about solutions.
That is what the author is calling for today. We must take the first step. We initiate the action. We are not to wait on the other person, we are to do for them without regard to what they will do for us. We will never experience all God has for us if we do not move forward. There are no escape clauses or loop holes for the Christian, we are to make the first move in loving others. That is the example Jesus set, He didn't wait on others to move first. He took the initiative and showed his love by what he did.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 (NIV) For a long time when I read this I thought of jumping to push a friend out of the way of a speeding car and being hit myself or of being in a room and volunteering when a gunman demands that one die so the rest of the group can go free. As I grow older those might be true but I wonder if "laying down my life for my friends" has more to do with opening my life to others as a transparent book. To give myself to them as I am. To lay down my life before them and to love them and let them love me. Sacrificial love says that I am willing to do just that – lay down my life for my friends. In living that way I just might be able to lead them to the Savior. I often wonder about just what I am willing to sacrifice for my friends. Jesus gave his life for us. What am I willing to give?
So we come back to the question so many discussions ended with in the past, "So what are you going to do about it?"
What do you think?
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