1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words of tongue but with actions and in truth.
Love can always be equated with sacrifice. Love cannot be truely evident without sacrifice. Where there is no sacrifice, there is no love.
Jesus is such an example of flesh being crucified. We see in the garden where he wrestled his flesh as he agonized over drinking from the cup. Can you imagine what it sounded like as he cried out to his father to let this cup pass from him? The decision he made in the garden determined his steps toward the cross - the ultimate sacrifice. It was at the cross where his true love for us was revealed in its greatest capacity.
As humans we struggle with our flesh when someone asks us to give them a ride to an appointment. We struggle with our willingness to make someone a meal when they are sick. We struggle to feed the poor when we see them using cell phones. We struggle turning off the TV in order to spend time in prayer and in the word. We struggle doing anything when we don't get paid for it. Where selfishness abides, love cannot.
Choosing to wrestle our flesh away and sacrifice for others is the only way we will ever be able to show those around us what true love is. Our willingness to wrestle our flesh away is our act of love toward God by being obedient to God and his word. Our willingness to sacrifice of ourselves is our means to touch others with the love of God.
Saying we love is not enough. Showing we love through sacrifice leads others to where true love is revealed in its greatest capacity.
Sacrifice is the will of God - for Jesus and for us!
3 comments:
Indeed I do agree! How is struggle with the smallest things sometimes. I fail in my own strenth and ask daily Lord Crucify me and the world to me. My God is Great and MIGHTY. His love is perfected in me (but I must be willing). The question to me every morning is: "Are you?"
Praise God for his TRUTH, His Love,His mercy and all that He has sacrificed that we might live.
This is a great question to ask of yourself. Often when my attitude of service and sacrifice is not quite right, God's loving conviction is present. But the question "Are you?" still remains. God always gives us a choice and what we choose reflects our love for him and for others.
good thoughts.
I appreciate you!
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