"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 one another."
(I John 3:16)
How does one define love? Song writers, novelists, and artists have sought to define the term in many different ways. John defines it as an act of sacrifice...a selfless gift for the benefit of others. He gives this defining gift of love a name...Jesus. Then once he defines love, he declares its mission...love dies that others might live. John defines that further as he writes, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (I John 4:9-10) The author of this definition of love is God, and the gift of love, His Son.
What is love's impact on those who receive this gift? They, in turn, are to give of themselves for others. Sacrifice breeds sacrifice...the recipient becomes the giver. Perhaps that is the lesson of Lent...contemplating the sacrifice of Christ, then embracing the cross as our own. This is a call to service, to give of ourselves as Christ gave himself for us.
John completes his definition of love with these words: "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us...in this world we are like Jesus." (I John 4:16-17) In this world, we are like Jesus.
Prayer: Thank you God for defining love through Jesus Christ. Continue your work of love through us. Amen.
Jim Abernathy
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