[Real Life] Love And SacrificeSample

Greatest Sacrifice

Abiding is to be restfully resident and desperately dependent upon Jesus. He is the Vine and we are the branches. If we just abide in Christ and allow Him to flow, we will have great fruit coming through our lives. The call is not to bear fruit, the call is to abide deeply; in doing that we will achieve greatly. I am not talking about worldly success, but about bearing eternal lasting fruit. We have to abide in Him, trust in Him, and rest in our identity in Christ—not in the roles of husband, wife, or student, but in the identity we have through a relationship with Jesus Christ, whom we received when we trusted Him for salvation. As we abide in Christ, the fruit will come in our lives—it is a natural outflow. 

When we do not abide in Christ, there is an unintended consequence—we accomplish nothing. When we do abide in Christ however, we allow the love and joy of the Lord into our lives.

Jesus wants us to love each other as He has loved us, with sacrificial love. Great love shows itself in great sacrifice: while we were still sinners, Jesus died and paid for our sin. He sacrificed Himself for us so, that we each could be called a friend of God. Because of the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us, what we do in response isn’t really a sacrifice. When we forego things and give them away for Christ’s sake, we receive so much back from the Lord.

Jesus is letting us know that we have friendship with God through the sacrifice that He made on our behalf. Our friendship with God is shown through our friendship with others in making great sacrifices for them. Sacrifice and love go hand in hand. If you are not sacrificial in your actions, in your way of thinking, in the things that you do, then you really don’t have love. 

Deep love is shown best in deep sacrifice. Those we love the most, we sacrifice for the most. Parents with children know this because there are days when the whole day is spent doing kid stuff. There is great sacrifice also in marriage. We sacrifice for one another, saying, “I choose to put your interest before my interest.” 

Jesus, “who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross,” put our interest first—greatest love, greatest sacrifice.