No Greater Love

John 15:12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

These verses are pretty powerful. We know that Scripture tells us that LOVE is the GREATEST thing we can do.

Do. It's a verb, an ACTION. It's easy to say we love others, but it's a whole other thing to actually show that love. Jesus said the greatest love is to lay down our lives for one another. He did it in the greatest capacity by giving His own sacred life for us to save us from our sins so that we may live in freedom & share THIS love with others so they can know the same love.

Jesus isn't suggesting we love others, He's COMMANDING us to! If we call ourselves Christians we HAVE to love others because it's in our divine bloodline we inheritted as adopted children of the Most High God. So it should be easy to do right?

In today's world it's so easy to be consumed with ourselves, our families, our jobs, our friends. OUR. OUR. OUR. MY. MY. MY. ME. ME. ME. I. I. I.

I don't know about you, but I am so grateful Jesus wasn't selfish.

So how can we show LOVE to others? How do we "LAY DOWN OUR LIVES" for others?

Maybe it's by forgiving someone who never apologized. Calling a friend you haven't spoken to for some time & not just commenting on their Facebook page.

Maybe it's by giving the homeless guy on the corner $5 or a cheap meal from McDonald's. Volunteering to help with the childcare at your church. Cooking a meal for someone for no reason at all.

Maybe laying down our lives is by offering to keep some one's kids so they can have sometime to their self or a date with their husband. Visiting a home-bound member of your church. Sending a care package to someone in the military whether you know them or not.

Maybe it's giving above your tithe even though you don't have the funds, but you're going to trust God anyway. It could be to spend extra time playing with your kids & playing what they want you to play.

Maybe it's giving away the stuff you don't use anymore to someone who does instead of selling it, even though you may need the money. Laying down your life could be sending a nice card to someone in the mail just to say you love them, you're thinking about them, you're praying for them.

Maybe it's just giving a simple smile to a complete stranger. Or being extra kind to the cashier or waiter who is doing a horrible job & being rude, then tipping them well anyway.

Laying down your life could be sending $50 to a ministry that specializing in stopping sex-trafficking, or to your local CPC, sending it to K-Love, to a friend you know who needs it, or just sticking it on a shelf in a grocery store & praying God sends the right person to find it & then trusting that He will.

Maybe laying down your life is making love to your husband when you're just not in the mood, he hasn't been romantic, & you honestly have a headache, but you know that it'll mean a lot to him.

It could be inviting someone who's not in you circle of friends to a get together, or on a playdate with other moms. Maybe it's cutting a neighbor's grass, bringing them cookies, inviting them to church, or just stopping by to say hey even when you honestly don't have the time. You make the time.

Let's face it, there are so many ways we can lay down our lives for someone else, to genuinely show them that we love them, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, to sow the seed of Christ that He has planted into us.

My prayer is that all of us who call ourselves Christians start acting more like Christ & less like ourselves. I know without a doubt I have not loved like I should, like I'm commanded, but now I can move forward & starting doing this kind of love, instead of just having the intention to.

May you all have a blessed week & please share a comment of how someone has laid down their life you recently or how you have done it for someone else. Let's encourage one another in that LOVE!