Jesus Defined Love Through Self Sacrifice
Daily Scripture
1 John 3:13-17
As we study 1 John, we encourage all GPS readers to daily read these verses aloud and memorize them: “Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 (Click here to download a printable card version of these verses.)
13 Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them. 16 This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help—how can the love of God dwell in a person like that?
Daily Reflection & Prayer
In a letter rooted in “love,” “light” and “life,” these verses offer a stark contrast with words like “hates,” “death” and “murderers.” (Other passages also showed the contrast between God’s Kingdom and the world as it is—e.g., John 15:18-19, Galatians 5:17-23.) While these antonyms seem obvious in writing, it can be harder in our day-to-day life to fully recognize and “know love” (verse 16). Scholar N.T. Wright states the best way to distinguish between “life” and “death” is to “listen carefully, and sift and weigh what you hear.” *
- In doing this vital listening, Wright continues, “Sometimes all a Christian can do… is to cling on to the bald and basic statement that, so far as we can tell, the meaning of the word ‘God’ is actually defined in relation to the Jesus who, we believe, came from this God and became flesh in our midst.” ** Which stories about Jesus most clearly reveal His love to you?
- Verse 16 highlighted Jesus’ self-sacrificing demonstration of love and our response to His mighty act by imitating this sacrificial love, even if usually in a more limited way, in our relationships. How can you daily accept this challenge to prioritize the needs of the people around you?
Prayer
Lord, Jesus, thank you for loving me to the point of self-sacrifice and being God’s flesh in my life. Help me stand boldly in love and joyfully serve others even when the world tells me differently. Amen.
GPS Insights
Grace McCamy
Grace McCamy, who served as a summer intern on Resurrection’s Software and Data Management team, wrote today's Insights. She is a senior at Arizona State University studying Computer Information Systems. She loves to bake and enjoy nature. When Grace is not doing one of those, you can find her surrounding herself with the people she loves.
When I first read this passage, my mind immediately went to all of the bad things going on in the world today. I can’t help but think of how upset God must be with us. But then I realize that living out God’s word doesn’t have to be big acts all the time. Sometimes the most meaningful ways to live in God can be small.
I’ve sat with this thought a lot. God cares enough about all of us, and God may be upset with us that some of us aren’t living out his word to the full extent. But I always go back to how much God loves us.
Whenever I think about how God might be upset with us because we’re not living his word, I go back to Scripture. We’ve been told many stories throughout the Bible about times when we weren’t living God’s word and how we can start again or in a different way. For me, the best way to live God’s word is spreading love to the ones around me.
There’s nothing like texting a friend you haven’t talked to in a few weeks or giving a family member a call. Maybe your mood isn’t talking or texting that day–if so, a small smile can go so far. One of my favorite parts of the Midwest that I miss the most at college is the “Midwest hospitality.” When I’m at home everyone is smiling, saying “hi,” even starting a random conversation, and I can feel God in all of them. So remember–sometimes the most meaningful ways to live in God really can be small.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Wright, N. T., Early Christian Letters for Everyone (The New Testament for Everyone) (p. 167). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
** Ibid., p. 169.
