"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13
Jesus is addressing His disciples. He is approaching the cross; the greatest example of love the world has ever seen. He is trying to encourage the disciples to continue on in the gospel... continue striving, continue persevering, continue maturing, continue sacrificing, continue loving. A few chapters on from this, Jesus will be betrayed by the ones he loves, persecuted, tortured, and murdered on the cross. Yet He wants to exhort His followers to love in this manner He has, is, and will continue to demonstrate... agape love. This is a self-sacrificing kind of love, that puts the other first. The scripture above, most literally means that giving up your physical life for another demonstrates the greatest love, but it means more than that.
We live in a world where "love" is so far off the mark. We have categorized love into so many things that it is not. The foremost of this is that love is a one-dimensional feeling. We feel "in love" with someone, and when that feeling goes away, so does the love. We "love" things when they make us feel good, and most of all we sexualize love, into only being something physical. This is NOT the kind of love Jesus is saying is of the greatest kind. The world has distorted love into so many things it is not, and perverted misleading twists based off of our feelings. Certainly, love is a feeling, I'm not trying to discount that. But, the kind of love He describes as the greatest is far more.
Jesus says the greatest kind of love is giving of yourself for others. He will demonstrate this in the most physical sense, in later chapters of John, but we are called to have this mind among ourselves. That is, we are to put others' needs before our own. We are to sacrifice for our wives, husbands, children, church family, our neighbors, people in need (spiritually, mentally, emotionally, materially), and anyone God puts in our path. This is the way Jesus lived! He constantly gave of Himself for others, for everyone! And He continues to demonstrate this kind of love in the world today. And the way this is supposed to work is through you! So today, demonstrate the greatest kind of love the world has ever seen! Give of yourself for those closest to you and to your neighbor, and watch how God's love goes to work! Love you all! Praying for you and yours! Have a blessed day, it's your choice!
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