John 15:13 NLT
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
There is not one single verse that produces more tears in my eyes than this one.
I find it interesting that God has put this verse on my heart today to write about and ponder, especially being Memorial Day in the US. A day to celebrate the sacrifice that our service members made to help us maintain the freedom that we are privileged to enjoy in the United States.
This verse also brings the most conviction to my heart.
When we become saved by God’s grace, this is a level of love that we are called to exhibit.
But I know I fall short here, a lot.
Sometimes, I limit who and when I help based on what the person is doing or not doing, according to my moral compass.
But then I get to this:
Romans 5:8 NLT
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
God met us where we were, not where He wants us to be, and because we live out our faith the way Jesus did, we are to do the same.
Our calling is to meet people where they are, not where we would wish them to be. We are to meet them in their pain, their addictions, their sorrow, and their suffering.
We are to meet them with the lifeline of Jesus Christ, the only help that can make any lasting change in their lives.
This calling isn’t always convenient. These things don’t happen on a neat and tidy schedule that we have.
These things happen when we least expect it.
These phone calls happen before we are to go out with our spouses for an evening out. These phone calls happen when we look forward to a nice relaxing evening after a long day of work.
These phone calls come from people that we have helped until we are blue in the face. When do we give up on these people?
I only ask this question so that God will help me with this question.
Psalm 86:5 NLT
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
Is my heart posture set on “ready to forgive” and on “unfailing love for all who ask for your help?”
I’m glad that God didn’t give up on me.
Do we have what it takes in us to make this happen? Without Jesus Christ in our hearts, the answer is NO.
But here is the good news, with Jesus Christ in our hearts, we can live this way, but it comes with a sacrifice on our part.
John 15:4-8 NLT
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
God always puts the control for this in our hands. Doing this is where the sacrifice on our part comes in.
“Remain in me,” this is active participation on our part. Doing this requires effort; doing this requires sacrifice on our part.
How do we remain in Him?
We spend time with Him. We take the one thing that we have a limited supply of “time,” and we spend time in His Word.
He promises that if we remain in Him, He will remain in us. He continues to give us the first move.
James 4:8 NLT
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
God wants our willing participation. He has given us the dignity of choice—the ability to say yes or no. What love.
The only time that God is not working directly in our lives is when we wander away from Him.
“For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
Again this requires effort on our part.
And what can we do apart from Jesus? Nothing.
“For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Furthermore, if we choose to go it alone, we will be met with an even more dire fate, a separation from God for eternity.
“Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”
But here is the promise, if we are willing to participate:
“But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”
What does it look like to live a fruitful life?
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
I ask myself all the time, am I experiencing the fruits of the spirit? If I am missing even one of them, I bring this before God, and I ask Him to help me with what is happening in my heart that is hampering my efforts.
He will eventually lead me to the thinking in my mind that is holding me back. The sin that I am harboring is stopping it from happening.
My experience is that it is always something inside of me that is causing this separation. And when I deal with it and ask for God’s help, He gives me the strength and the courage to get past it.
So what does this have to do with laying one’s life down for a friend?
For forty-eight years, I felt obligated to “help” others with their shortcomings while looking at my faults by my “intentions.” And my intentions were always for the “greater good.”
Matthew 7:3-5 NLT
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
When I got this idea, my whole life changed.
I started to look at those around me much differently. I began to realize that my most significant battle wasn’t in the world around me; the battleground was in space between my ears.
Ephesians 6:12 NLT
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
I believe when we get this right, our willingness to lay our lives down becomes a by-product of God’s saving grace.
Heavenly Father, thank You.
I am grateful for Your Word and the Word’s ability to change lives. I realize that the most significant witness that I can have to those around me is my life changed by Jesus Christ working in my life.
I pray, Lord, that You produce the desire in my heart to be focused on Your Word with a grateful and submissive spirit.
I thank You for the people in my life. I pray that You produce compassion in my heart to serve them with unconditional love.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
