To Live is Christ — and impossible without Him

Biblical love is described as sacrificing what self wants to do what presently and eternally benefits someone else. That is how God loves us. This love goes beyond that of a mother who sacrifices her sleep to nurse a crying child, or a father who gives up a day at work to take his son fishing. This is eternal and holy God taking on humanity and sacrificing Himself so we might have His eternal life.

Love is on my mind. Last night we watched Celine Dion singing love songs. Her powerful voice and the words of the songs demonstrated the passion of human love, but even though emotions are involved, the love of God is not about emotions. The “passion” of Christ as He gave His life, in love, for the world involved deep agony, not the heady thrill of being in love.

The Bible word for this love is agape. The Greek language has another word, eros, for the love Dion sings about, and still another for the love of family. Today’s devotional verse uses agape, the love of God. 

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

These verses are about the way God surrounds me with His love, but one statement in the reading makes me think about my love for Him. Do I give up what I want to eternally benefit Him? Does my love bring Him glory because I put my interests and desires aside that His name and His eternal kingdom might prosper?

A few weeks ago my Sunday class looked at other verses in 1 John that tell us, “Do not love the world, nor the things of the world.” It goes on to describe these loves as the desire for that which coddles the flesh, lines the pockets, and builds the ego, characteristics of our me-first generation. One person asked which word for love was used in this command.

I was surprised that it was “agape” — yet it makes sense. God does not want me to make sacrifices to gain those things. Those kinds of sacrifices are self-serving, not even close to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ made for me.

This agape love can be practiced in small ways. Laying down my life can include a literal sacrifice.  However, it can also include giving someone else the last coin in my purse so they can go to the mission field, or spending an hour in intercessory prayer for someone who does not know Christ.

Life is filled with many either/or decisions that involve “doing this” for me or “doing that” for someone else. Sometimes those decisions need prayer. What is eternally best may not be obvious. Simple choices, like giving that last piece of pie to someone else when I really wanted it, or helping a neighbor with her garden when my own needs weeding, do not seem to involve eternity. Yet my decision could have less to do with their eternal best and be more about me behaving like Jesus.

To live is Christ is about abiding in the love of God and choosing to let that love be part of who I am. It is a daily thing with moment-by-moment opportunities. It requires discernment and selflessness. Without Jesus, it is totally impossible.