In my Bible reading this morning 1 John 3:16 jumped out to me, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
We know Love, Agape, because of Jesus laying down His life for us. I believe that this is more than just His dying on the cross. Was He not laying down His whole life before the cross for us? He was a King but was born in a stable and not a palace. He was God and yet He humbled Himself for our sakes. Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Kings have servants who wait on them but He instead was the one serving Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
So, if we know really know the love, agape, of Christ then we should be laying down our lives for each other as 1 John 3:16 says. We should be living out these following verses, correct?
Romans 15:1-3 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Philippians 2:3-4 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
There is something about these verses that I have found. They are impossible to live out in my own strength and with human love. Human love and human effort will fail at this every time because it is based on emotion, is transactional and is selfish. So, am I telling you that the Bible is tells us to do a bunch of stuff that there is no way for us to ever accomplish? Yes and No.
Yes, in that if we are trusting in ourselves and our power it is impossible BUT if we are truly living in Christ and have the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living in us than it is totally possible and will be evident.
1 John 4:7-11 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
The love starts with God, comes from God to us and is to come out through us to others. This becomes easier when we live the next two verses.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 5:24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If it is no longer I who live but Christ living in me then doesn’t it reason that His love for others would also be living in me? We believe that miracles, healings, and signs and wonders still happen today by and through the power of God flowing through us. Why then would we neglect the greatest miracle, sign and wonder the loving others by laying down our lives for them? Loving not just with our words but also our deeds.
I believe that the lost world around us needs to see something more than people being healed, a financial miracle or something another fantastic supernatural sign. These are all good things but what the lost REALLY need to see is the Love of Jesus being manifested in our lives towards one another and them. When they see a sign, wonder, miracle or healing that it is not to build up man’s kingdom, to elevate a person’s ministry or church but that they see God’s might Love being poured out into their lives. When it is truly the Love of the One and Only God that is dwelling in us and through us our motivations change and fear fades away. We no longer are afraid to pray for people in public anywhere because the Love of Christ moves us to. We are not worried about what people will think of us if we pray and nothing happens immediately because we pray out of His love and not to build up our reputations.
The more I dive into the Love of God questions come. Have I truly encountered the Love of God? Have I allowed God’s Love to encounter me? Are people encountering the Love of God through me?
Lord people don’t need my life that is lived for me, by me and is all about me. They need to see me as someone who is dead to myself, crucified with Christ and Christ and Christ’s Love flowing through me and out of me. Lord that is what they need, and that is what I desire and want to desire. No longer me but You in me.
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