Selfless love: I love you more.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
I heard it said once that one way to know if someone loves you is to see if they will give you the last piece of food on their plate. The idea is that their love for you will outweigh their desire to finish the meal that they originally bought for themselves. The principle: love is self-less. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that praises selfishness and fails to model self-sacrificing lives. When we are taught to live our best, selfish lives while single, it’s no wonder so many marriages end in divorce. I can’t imagine the culture shock of being programmed to care only for yourself, only to be thrust into a covenant designed to model Christ’s own sacrificial love.
Jesus didn’t ask us to do something He was not modeling himself. He literally laid his life down for us, to the point of dying on the cross so that we could have access to a relationship with the Father. Selfless love is inconvenienced for the sake of someone else’s benefit. Jesus already had a relationship with the father! If he didn’t die, he would have been just fine with God. But his love was concerned about you and me, and he knew that the only way for us to have that access would cost his life. Thank you, Jesus!
Regardless of your relationship status, ‘tis the season to practice a love that places others above itself. What does this look like practically? Look for opportunities in your daily life to lay down your life for those in your life. Can you allow someone else to make their copies before you? Will you use that money you were saving to bless someone you know has been struggling to make ends meet? Will you lay down your need to be right, and apologize first? It is a daunting task for the unbeliever, and still difficult for Christians. The difference for you and me is that we have the Holy Spirit who strengthens us to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13).
Will you walk in selfless love today?
Prayer:
Lord, if I’m honest, I don’t want to love selflessly. Sometimes it is hard for me to put the needs of others ahead of my own, especially if it will be an inconvenience to me. Thank you for sending Jesus to be a perfect model of how you will strengthen me to live this life. I repent for opportunities where I have chosen myself over my brother and sister. Today as I love You more, help me to also love others more than myself. In Jesus’ name, amen.
