By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16
Love is a basic human emotion and a real human need. It is also part of what God created for us to know in Him and with one another. Love led God to create humanity with His own hands. Love would later drive Jesus to spread His arms and have His hands nailed to a cross. Love was shown to the world by the Father sending His only Son to save us. And it is only through experiencing this saving love that we can truly love God and other people.
Christians proclaim this love to the world. And we celebrate the love of God in Christ in our worship, in gospel preaching, and at the Lord’s Table when we remind ourselves of the amazing way God loves us. We also celebrate God’s love by loving each other well. And as the apostle John reminds us here, just as Jesus laid down His life for us in love, so we should humbly sacrifice ourselves in love for one another.
These two loves are always linked together in John’s practical theology. Because we have been loved in Christ, we now love our brothers and sisters. And the only way to truly love our fellow Christians is for us all to love as Christ loves… giving ourselves for and to one another. We lay aside self and devote ourselves to the need of another person.
Lord Jesus,
I do not always love like You do. I often appreciate Your sacrificial love. I may even selfishly demand it from others. Help me first to give myself to living and giving love as You do. My life is not my own. I lay it down for You to use as I lay my life and love down for others.
Amen
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