GIVE LOVE, give life, get joy.
When the eternal Son of God came to earth He had already decided to give His life in order to kill our death. Fast approaching the day of His death, Jesus urged His disciples to remain in His love by obeying His commandments. His commandments are summed up like this: “Love the Father and love one another just like I did.” The love He spoke of was agape love—undeserved, unconditional love.
The essence of agape love is putting another person’s well-being higher on your priority list than you put your own happiness. If putting God and others first is rated on a scale of 1-10, then dying in someone’s place is a 9.5, and dying in the place of someone who doesn’t deserve to be loved is a flat out 10. Jesus did that for me, and for you. Then He asked each of us to follow His example and give up our lives in order to help others be more loved and more alive.
There might be two major ways to give up your life for the sake of God or others. One way is all at once, in some form of love-based martyrdom—perhaps rescuing someone at the cost of your own life. The other way is to die one decision at a time, one loving action at time. (Like washing the dishes for Linda, when I’d rather watch a TV program.)
Jesus said that dying for others leads to great joy. I don’t think He felt much joy in Gethsemane, yet the Bible tells that “for the joy set before him he endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). What joy was that? The joy of pleasing His Father. The joy of providing a way for people like you and me to enter heaven. In the same way, if I sacrifice something I want for the sake of God or others, I bring joy to the Lord—a joy that will boomerang and come back to me.
In John 15, 11 nlt, Jesus says, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” Notice how calls the joy His joy. There’s nothing sweeter than His joy becoming my joy, too. That joy is my strength. Laying down my life brings joy to Jesus, to Father God and to me. Eventually, that kind of joy will spill out and splash on everyone.
Life Challenge: Are you willing to watch today for a chance to give someone life and love? If so, expect joy.