John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Of course, when He made that statement, Jesus was directly referring the the fact that He was about to literally lay down His life for His friends. Jesus was about to literally lay down His life for the entire world and its sins. Is that necessarily the application for all of us? In certain circumstances, it might be. Any one of us could encounter a situation where literally laying down one’s life might be an appropriate expression of ultimate love. What about the rest of us? What if we are never asked to literally sacrifice our lives for a friend? Are we just off the hook? Hardly! What, then, might it mean to lay down one’s life for a friend?
We live in a culture today where people won’t even lay down their thoughts, ideas and opinions for their fellow man, much less their lives. The United States, particularly, is a “me” culture. “Looking out for number 1,” “If you don’t take care of yourself, nobody will.” These are all reflections of the way we are. Yet, Jesus’ still said to lay down one’s life for friends is the ultimate expression of love.
We can do this by making others needs more important than our own. Jesus did that for us; He gave up his rightful place in Heaven to come here, live as a man, suffer and die just because our need for a savior was so great. Next time you have a situation where two needs are presented and only one can be met, meet your brother or sister’s need and let yours go unmet.
We can do this by forgiving. People wrong us; that is simply a fact. Scripture teaches us over and over that we are to forgive. Jesus asked His father to forgive the very people killing him on the cross in Luke 23:34. We simply have to learn to forgive the same way; we need to forgive no matter the seriousness of the offense that is committed against us
We can do this by sacrificing for others. Not only might we be required to meet another person’s need and leave ours unmet, but we might actually have to give up something our our own to meet their need. Maybe you have plans but a brother or sister has a need; give up your plans and be there for them.
We can do this by meeting the needs of people who don’t deserve it and cannot or will not do a thing for us. Some folks don’t deserve help. Some are not capable of doing anything for us in return. Some are capable, but in our hearts we know they wouldn’t give us a fire extinguisher if we burst into flames. Help them anyway.
Laying down one’s life for friends is similar to Jesus mandate that we pick up our cross and follow Him. He didn’t mean for us to literally pick up a cross, and He probably didn’t mean, in most cases, for us to literally die for or friends. Jesus was setting a pattern for us here, and in our efforts to be Christlike, we should follow that pattern.
Who have we laid our lives down for today? If the day is just starting, who will we lay down or lives for today?
May 13, 2015 at 06:44
That is today’s American soldier. They get to little credit for their sacrifice too. 😦
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May 13, 2015 at 07:00
I would agree with you there Michelle. I am a veteran myself, only not so recent LOL. Being rather older now I was around for our first foray into the Middle East. Missed out on the current adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I do agree we tend to forget those guys and girls in foreign lands and the very real possibility that they might not come back. I remember when I was a kid hearing the daily reports of soldiers killed in Vietnam. It sometimes seemed very sterile, as if they were reporting the weather and how many inches of rain had come down. Not so sterile if it’s you or you are the widowed wife.
Not to mention the fiasco we have made of caring for returning wounded vets in the healthcare system; we have really failed so many in that area. I was actually working for the VA when we decided to invade Iraq this time around and I remembering if somebody was going to plan this out to prepare for all the wounded folks..apparently they did not.
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May 13, 2015 at 06:58
Great post this sums up real Christianity carry your cross and follow him any other gospel is false Keep up the great work God bless
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May 13, 2015 at 07:12
Thank you and blessings also
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May 13, 2015 at 07:07
Our cross can also be the daily decisions we face, the burdens we carry and defending our Lord. Jesus didn’t promise us a perfect life here on earth, but one in eternity. That makes all suffering something to look forward to. Thanks for these great words!
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May 13, 2015 at 07:18
And thank you for yours!
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May 13, 2015 at 08:47
Ah but Wally hold on to your hat…………….truly a man could lie down his life for his friends, yet………
………….While WE were enemies, Christ died for the ungodly……….. The bar of love has now been raised to a level unimaginable…………….but God who is RICH in mercy……………….
How any person of decent thought can deny such love and purpose is baffling, and is further proof of God’s assessment of man: blindness.
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May 13, 2015 at 09:02
Faith is required for belief. I was raised on the heavenly father but have no belief in Jesus himself. So without belief first in Jesus how is claiming that proof? Quoting the bible or claims of Jesus will not prove anything to a non-believer and more to the point an atheist.
What I believe speaks of god and my faith is how I live. I try and live in a way others see and say man she really has it going on I wonder why and they ask. I’m always happy to discuss my faith but I am very slow to use it as any form of proof or undeniable truth. Faith is required to believe and that goes for any god. Though I am most pleased you found Christianity suits you so well. We all need something to believe in.
Blessing and peace,
PS not starting a war just making an observation I am not an atheist nor am I Christian. Every faith believes themselves absolute truth so Christians are not unique in that. I just like the positive messages here and given my past all the positive I can get the better. Unlike some non-Christians I make an effort to understand what others believe, I’ve read the bible and like the hope found inside it. But that doesn’t make it true for me. 🙂
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May 13, 2015 at 09:19
Hey michele-
‘We all need something to believe in.’ That is probably more true than some care to admit.
I do think there is hard wired into the human spirit the desire to not only believe in something, but to believe in that which is ultimately true.
Far too often though, we argue against ourselves because we think truth may cost us something; well, it should if it is valuable.
What we believe today we may deny tomorrow, and what we despise tomorrow, we may love next week. Truth itself, like the love of God, never fails. We may fail, but truth stands tall.
Not true for you though? Maybe not today………but there are seven days in the week 😉
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May 13, 2015 at 09:21
Oh no. I know gods love for me but god to me doesn’t include Jesus. /shrug
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May 13, 2015 at 09:25
Hey Michelle
Glad you aren’t starting a war…sigh..plenty of those around and more.
I’m glad you like the messages, and I enjoy what I have seen over on your place.
Yep..I do believe that what I believe is absolute truth. But, it’s still all good. You know from earlier my thoughts on truth. It’s truth is not related to what we personally feel, but stands on it’s own merit.
So, no war here, that is actually not why I come here. Although sometimes it is hard to tell…sigh.
Waiting on the next Native American fact by the way.
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May 13, 2015 at 09:35
If we get into “standing on it’s own” it would hijack your blog. My truth stands on it’s own as well. But see faith is belief without need of proof. That is more the point. Muslims would argue their faith stand as truth and could and does withstand all attack because it’s truth. That makes the claim exactly as Christians do.
As I said I am always happy someone finds a faith and belief that suits them and they can believe is the absolute truth but that absolute is never complete without faith that it is absolute with no proof needed.
That is the absolute truth I know as well. We share that, we share a heavenly father, we share a love of all people, forgiveness of trespasses and so much more we just don’t share the belief in Jesus.
Does he seem like a bad guy? Nope not in the least. The bible even seems like a fine guide to living a decent god centered type of life. It’s just not the way I believe. Does that make me say you are wrong? Nope because I believe that true children of Christ will live a decent life and be saved. I believe I am saved too.
it’s really about what makes us the best us we can be. For Christians that is Christ and that is fine by me.
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May 13, 2015 at 09:51
Eh..wouldn’t be the first time it got hijacked, but at least you would be a friendly hijacker LOL.
Just a brief overview of how I arrived where I am may be in order. The issue is absolute truth..is it there or not? Of course I believe it is.
I’m not a philosopher by any stretch, so bear with me some please. There’s this little thing Aristotle termed the Law of non contradiction. Two contradictory things can’t exist in the same sense and same time; something has to be true and something has to be false.
That’s true with gods as well. They aren’t all the same, as their characteristics and contradictory. The true God is not the same as, for instance, Allah, or Buddha, or Krishna. Based on their stated attributes, they cannot all exist at the same time. By default, somebody has to be real and somebody has to not be.
From the realization at some point for me that there was,, in fact, a God, the rest came easy. That was actually the hard part for me, admitting that God existed. From there, it was a matter of evidence to convince me that God, as revealed in the Bible, was the correct one.
So, you are actually ahead of where I was…you are at least willing to admit the existence of God…like ColorStorm said..there are 7 days in the week.
Now..when can I expect that next installment on Native American facts? For some reason that has really gotten my interest LOL
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May 13, 2015 at 10:01
Friday and it is a pretty big one. 🙂
I agree not all gods are the same is the Hebrew father the same as the one in the bible? yes. He is god to both Jew and Christian. He is the same god and the same commandments given my people many 1000s of years ago. Our only written bible is the commandments and they are identical in nature and nurture. So it stands to reason if he is the father of the Jews and gave the same commandments elsewhere then he is the same father to me as to you.
All written history of the Lakota was destroyed by the settlers and the kind US government. For more than a century of occupation by this same group we were forbidden to speak our tongue, practice our faith and practice our ways. The penalty was death.
The Christians found it easy to convert the ghost dancers because we already believed the same 10 commandments and the same father in heaven. But not all gave up their faith and those who didn’t never relented to forced conversion either. We maintained our faith in secret and that is why it survives today. As does our oral language though written language of the Lakota was lost forever. If you believe the history books we prayed to animals and mother earth, we had no written language. ect..
That is why I started the native facts section to enlighten and educate just how much these godless, savages had and knew. 🙂
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May 13, 2015 at 10:07
Michele-
You bring up a good point, and many struggle with such things.
If we can look at one important detail. There is a common thought as you say: ‘faith is belief without need of proof,’ that if one has only this in mind, I would agree it could be a ‘weak’ faith.
The faith of scripture however makes a distinction which sets it apart and gives it strength: it is a belief BECAUSE of proof. Many have had the same concern; God has laid out proof after proof after proof that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen.
He has anticipated all objections, and has answered perfectly that we have no excuse. The true God has no competitors, and in Hebrews 11, there is enormous ‘proof’ of this faith which makes belief credible.
It is true, that certain things need not be repeated to be believed, and the character of they who have gone through the furnace as it were, should not be easily dismissed. But true faith also has verifiable history, (the chronicles and genealogies) and is equal proof that God’s word is good 😉
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May 13, 2015 at 10:16
See but what evidence do you actually have that I don’t? for 1000s of years my people had written commandments that mirrored identically the herbrew commandments.
Again not the place to challenge proof nor would I feel right attempting to dissuade someone of faith they believe in. It would be murdering them in a spiritual way. That is against my morals to start that kind of war.
We can simply agree to disagree on what absolute truth is or is not. But to suggest my faith is false because you don’t believe it so is folly at best sir. You have no clue what my faith has survived in me personally.
My faith is as strong as anyone here to be perfectly honest. So I find that suggestion personally off putting that because I don’t believe like you do that my faith isn’t true and that is fact. No sir that is fact to you and not to me therefore it is no fact at all and is based solely in speculation.
Thank you for your time, Wally I am done Hijacking this thread. I still love the positive message here.
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May 13, 2015 at 10:32
And I still love your input Michelle..thanks. And your consideration is very meaningful and I thank you for it.
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May 13, 2015 at 10:13
I like some of what you said there Michelle, and I think the commonality of belief rather proves the point than disproves it. God has made us aware on Himself through creation, rendering us without excuse.
Paul even pointed out something similar when he taught that we all understand God’s Law from the conscience He has implanted it us..Jew and Gentile..and Lakota too. So, what you say has much credence and is valid. But, as another visitor has pointed out, some dots still gotta get connected.
Friday..ok cool. I will be watching expectantly.
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May 13, 2015 at 09:05
Oh my…nicely said. I suppose to lay down your life for even your enemies IS a far larger thing to do. The implications of that sort of blow my mind. Thanks, you have done it again…back to the books for me!
Your last statement, btw, raises a good question, and I wonder who will answer it?
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May 13, 2015 at 09:22
You knew that already W 😉 you just wanted somebody else to connect the dots.
Paul the apostle gets the credit though thanks to God of course, we are in good company.
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May 13, 2015 at 10:08
Well…you are a pretty good dot connector my friend. I thank God daily for those who help me build and mature my faith. A threefold cord and all of that, right?
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May 13, 2015 at 10:28
“We can do this by meeting the needs of people who don’t deserve it and cannot or will not do a thing for us.” Very true statement there Wally and one I have difficulty living out at times. What’s funny, although deadly serious too if you think about it, is when I do manage meet the needs of others so undeserving of it (only through God’s Grace), I always end up feeling better about the situation as if it were me the gift was intended and not the other.
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May 13, 2015 at 10:46
Good point Tricia. My wife says something along that line actually. Sometimes she has tried to do something nice for somebody and they balk at it. She just tells them..”Hey don’t you steal my blessing!” Sometime the gift we give IS for us as well.
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May 13, 2015 at 11:12
I like your wife’s response and will have try that!
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