Most of you can probably recite John 3:16, which speaks of God’s love for us.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
That passage, often called “The Gospel in a Nutshell,” is a beautiful summary statement of God’s love. A passage that is just as noteworthy and instructs us in the way we should love is 1 John 3:16
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
W ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Do you see what this is saying? In order to live as followers of the one who laid down His life for you, you should lay down your lives for your brothers and sisters. And something I like to mention in this connection is that laying down your life does not just refer to someone dying for their faith. To be sure, that is one meaning of the term. But laying down your life also means giving up your rights, putting the needs of others ahead of your own. That includes sacrificial giving to support the ministry of your church home, but it is more than that.
Following the example of Jesus, you will live a life of love. You will put the needs of others ahead of your own. You will express that love in words of encouragement. You will express that love in deeds that show you care. You will express that love in service to Christ both in the Church and the community. You will express that love because you have known and experienced that love in your life. We love because He first loved us.
Want some specifics? As followers of Christ, we understand that love is not just something we talk about or limited to how we feel. Love is what we do. I have seen so many examples of that kind of love throughout my life and ministry. Around the congregations I served, I saw loving acts of service like:
- Tending a flower bed at the church
- Washing the dishes in the kitchen
- Teaching a Sunday School class
- Passing out pocket crosses and sharing a kind word
- Folding the bulletins
- Running the Audio and Video equipment during worship
- Cleaning the pews, restocking the cards and sharpening the pencils
- Taking time to visit the elderly and the shut-ins
- Sending cards to those going through a difficult time just to let them know you care
- Serving on a committee
- Mowing the grass and trimming the shrubs
- Working on Disaster Response Teams after a hurricane or a tornado.
- Being a friend who listens and offers a shoulder to cry on and then praying with each other.
I know this same kind of love has being shown by followers of Jesus in your homes, where you work, with your neighbors in ways that I did not see. Lives that are built on the foundation of Jesus Christ will have this kind of love and make this love evident in action and in truth. That is a life worthy of the calling we have received to be followers of Jesus: humble, gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love. May we continue to lay down our lives for the sake of others.
