Tuesday, December 6, 2016

The Daily Grace - The Self-Sacrificial Love


Christianity is a religion of love. But what exactly is love? First John 3:16-18 provides an answer. 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. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

In these three verses, we see the model, definition, application, and test of true love. The model of true love is Jesus Christ. More specifically, the model of true love is Jesus Christ crucified. This model of true love leads directly to its definition. Love is self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice, the act of laying down our lives for others, can be understood literally. Certainly Jesus understood it literally with regard to his own life. But self-sacrifice can also be understood metaphorically, as a mindset that places the interests of others before one’s own. John shows the application of true love in terms of our use of wealth. “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” Charity toward the poor is not the only application of self-sacrificial love, but it is an especially clear one. And, the test of true love is whether we are actually self-sacrificial. If we don’t show charity to the poor (and to others), John asks, “how can the love of God be in [us]?” The love of God may refer to God’s love, or it may refer to our love for God. If we fail to love the poor, then God’s love has not permeated our being, and our love for him is incomplete. Our love for others, then, demonstrates the love of God in both senses.

Having set out the model, definition, application, and test of true love, John concludes with an exhortation: “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” What the world needs from Christians is not more talk about love, but simply more love.

Source: https://georgepwood.com/2007/03/09/self-sacrificial-love-1-john-316-18/


4 comments:

  1. Yes love. I see that if I don't love yet claim to know God it means I don't belong in Heaven. Thanks

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  2. This teaching has enlightened me and it will make me to reach to those in and out of the church who are in dying need as i was in need of salvation and i got through Christ

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  3. This verse enlightened my mind to love our bothers with pity and accpetance without looking who they are and where they came from.

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  4. This verse enlightened my mind to love our bothers with pity and accpetance without looking who they are and where they came from.

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