1John 4:16(NLT) says, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” This verse is the foundation on which love exists. God is love, and you and I can’t know love unless we live in Him. Living in Him means that we do as Jesus Christ commands in Luke 10:27, which is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It means that we are to love our powerful Creator with all that we are, because this is the way He loves us. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to save all who believe in Him and give us eternal life. God’s love is the foundation of everything wonderful and beautiful, and believing this truth can launch us into the destiny He set for us before the world began.
Most of us think of romance when we hear the word ‘love’, but these romantic feelings are not what John 3:16 or 1John 4:16 are referring to. Feelings of love and passion expressed when having a relationship with a significant person in your life is ‘eros’ love. Although it is a very important aspect of life, eros love isn’t strong enough for an enduring commitment to one another. Philia is the love we have for our friends, and storge is the love that parents have for their children. Again, these are all very important because they help us to have fulfilling and enriching lives, but the expression of these types of love are unique to every individual. They vary in degree according to the character, quality, and capacity of every person. In other words, the standard of love given to our significant person, family, and other loved ones is dependent on our own individual choice to love great or to love small. God’s love is in no way like that.
Agape love is the love of God, and it has no equal. God’s love is unconditional, unlimited, and it is constant beyond our scope of understanding. He loves us regardless of whether we love Him. His love is never-ending, and this is the kind of love that everyone should want for themselves. Our brand of love has many conditions and constraints. Many of us only love those who love us. When it comes to the significant person in our lives, most of us have tons of restrictions. The person’s looks, finances, and level of education and success are just some of the criteria we use. If a person doesn’t meet our requirements, many of us find them unqualified to love us, and we disqualify ourselves from loving them. Certainly, we must know that this is not what God wants.
Ephesians 2:10(NLT) says, “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Human beings are God’s finest workmanship. Adam, the first man, really ruined things for us because he disobeyed our Heavenly Father. However, sin didn’t stop with Adam. We have continued to disobey God, but He did not hold it against us. He sent Jesus Christ to save us from sin and death. Christ made it possible for us to have new life. We are new creations because of what God accomplished through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son. Colossians 3:3(NLT) tells us, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” Because of the salvation Jesus Christ offers, now, we are in Christ, and we can live and love through him.
Jesus said in John 15:13(NLT), “There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.” We’re the friends that Jesus Christ is referring to. We’re his brothers and sisters, and he allowed himself to go through a level of pain, devastation, and agony that no other human being could have endured. He took our place. Hebrews 12:2(AMP) says, “[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work]. Jesus Christ endured the agony and humiliation of the cross because he saw the future. He saw that we would receive God’s seed, the Holy Spirit, through salvation, and become his adopted brothers and sisters. This brought him unfathomable joy.
We must remember that our blessed Lord and Savior was perfect in every way. Before his sacrifice, he had never known pain because he walked perfectly with God. None of us can know the incredible agony he went through when he was separated from God for the first time ever because he took on our sin. He endured this horrific punishment for our sakes. 1John 4:10(NLT) says, “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” This real love is agape love. This is the love Christ had for us when he allowed himself to be crucified on the cross. God sent His Son to be the payment for our sins, so that He, our Heavenly Father, could purchase us back from the realm of darkness. Colossians 1:13-14(NLT) says, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”
Our true identity is in Christ. He is our example because Jesus Christ is everything God created us to be. Because of Christ, we give quality love to everyone just as Christ did, and this greatly pleases God. Because of Christ, we also know that real love—agape love requires sacrifice. This means that sometimes we’ll have to give up some things to gain spiritual growth and maturity. We are now new creations in Christ and growing in his love through our relationship with God is the whole reason for our earth experience.
Sacrificing or giving up those things that are not useful to our journey forward and upward in Christ is required to walk in his example. Sacrifice also means that we will sometimes have to step outside our comfort zones to be a blessing to others. We have to sacrifice in order to show the love of Christ to those we hold close to our hearts. It’s caring about the welfare of others more than you do for yourself. Some would say, “How is that possible? God wants us to love ourselves, so I don’t think that’s right.” It absolutely is right. Jesus Christ said in Luke 9:23(NLT), “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” He said in Luke 14:26(NLT), “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.”
Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to neglect selfcare. He wants us to trust Him to take care of us as we take care of what we are placed on this earth to do, which is to demonstrate His love continually. Jesus Christ teaches in Luke 12:29-31(NLT), “29 And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.” When we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, He promises to supply our needs. He does this because He loves us, and when we place all our faith in this, we will continually grow in His love and allow it to overflow into the lives of others. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
“Love’s Sacrifice”, written by Vince Mack. Blessing Beads and More© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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