lay down our lives
We Know Love by This
By Linda Rex
April 21, 2024, 4th Sunday | Easter—The other day I was in a supermarket looking for a few items which we had run out of and which I needed for a special family gathering. While I was standing in the dairy section, looking at the items in the refrigerator box, I noticed someone I had seen earlier elsewhere in the store. In fact, I had seen this person four or five times, gathering items and putting them into a grocery sack.
In my mind, I questioned whether or not they intended to pay for the items. Then I realized that this person looked very familiar, a lot like someone I had seen in another locality entirely—on the streetcorner, holding a sign. Was this someone who was homeless who happened to have been given some funds with which to buy some food?
At this moment, I was called away by my shopping companion, and had to leave. But this story came to my mind as I was reading the New Testament passage for today, 1 John 3:16–24. The apostle John was speaking regarding our care for brothers and sisters within the body of Christ, but our expression of the love of God in Christ is meant to cross all barriers, and not be restricted only to those who are believers in Christ.
I find one of the greatest challenges as I write this blog is to live out what I believe to be true. However difficult it may be to write honestly and openly about what I believe to be true (and it can be very difficult at times), it is even more so to live out the ideals I write about. The truth which I have in Jesus Christ and have been given by the Spirit is profoundly wonderful. But as one who is fully redeemed, restored, and accepted by God, and at the same time, broken, wretched, and so far from being what I ought to be, I realize that too often, what I say isn’t always backed up by my actions.
The body of Christ, the Church, has a lot to answer for because too often what we have preached about the love of God in Christ has not been backed up by our actions. True, at times people expect unreasonable things of believers—as human beings, we do have limits to what we can do. But at the same time, Jesus said we would be known as his followers, by our love for one another. And the love Jesus was talking about was the same love he showed for every human being when he laid down his life, took up his cross, and died for each of us.
If, as John says in our passage for today, that we know love by the way in which Jesus laid down his life for us, then the truest expression we can give of God’s love is to lay down our own life for someone else, especially when they are a fellow follower of Christ. What are some ways in which we can lay down our lives for one another?
Our minds often go to the ultimate sacrifice, which our brothers and sisters in the military or police force do on a regular basis (for which we are so grateful). But there are many other ways in which our everyday lives are full of opportunities to lay down our lives in tangible ways. In our job, we may risk our life daily by caring for sick people or by having to work in a job situation which isn’t safe. If we are next in the grocery line, there may be a person behind us who only has one item and looks to be in a hurry. How difficult would it be to lay down our need to be first and allow them to go ahead of us? Or, as we are getting on the interstate, to allow others to merge onto the interstate by slowing down for a moment, rather than competing with them for a position? Attending one more mid-week event or meeting, or inviting a small group over, may absolutely ruin our schedule and disrupt our household—but what if doing this would make a difference in the life of someone who is lonely or struggling?
As you can see, our everyday lives are full of opportunities to express self-giving, sacrificial love. This is especially true within our own households as we interact with our family or within the household of God, with our spiritual family. It is God’s Spirit who pours the love of God into our hearts and enables us to love as Jesus loved us. We trust in Jesus and in his love, and by his Spirit love one another, and do so in tangible ways by living sacrificially in a spirit of service and giving. As we live in this way, God’s love spreads out from us into the world, enabling others to see and experience God’s love in ways that are lifechanging, healing, and restorative.
Dearest Father, thank you for pouring out your love through your Son Jesus and by your Spirit. Enable us to receive the love that you give, and in receiving your love, offer it to others as freely has you have offered it to us. Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to live in other-centered, self-sacrificing ways as you did and do. Pour your love by your Spirit in and through us to all those around us, in your name, Jesus. Amen.
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” 1 John 3:16–24 NASB
“Love is known in its othercenteredness; just as Jesus laid down his life for us to free his love within us for others. The indwelling love of God compels one to live sensitively aware of people around us, and not to exclude those in need. My darling children, let’s not deceive ourselves by paying lip service to love while we can truly live the dynamic of love in our practical daily doing! In this we know that our beingness is sourced in that which is really true about us; our doing good is not phoney or make-belief; this is who we are in God’s sight! So, even if our own hearts would accuse us of not really being true to ourselves, God is greater than our hearts and he has the full picture! His knowledge of us is not compromised. Beloved when we know what God knows to be true about us, then instead of condemning us, our hearts will endorse our innocence and free our conversation before God. Now, instead of begging God, we speak with confident liberty as sons. We also treasure the conclusion of his prophetic purpose [in redeeming our sonship] and fully accommodate ourselves to his desires and pleasure! Knowing the warmth in his eyes inspires poetic freedom in our every expression. And this is the ultimate conclusion of his intention and desire that we would be fully persuaded concerning the name of Jesus Christ who has successfully accomplished his mission as the son of God to rescue mankind’s authentic sonship! Our love for one another completes his joy! Everyone who treasures this final conclusion of God’s dream, abides unhindered in seamless oneness in him and he in them. His gift of the Spirit is to endorse our awareness of his abiding within us!” 1 John 3:16–24 Mirror Bible
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/olitwe-know-love-by-this.pdf ]
[More devotionals may be found at https://lifeinthetrinity.blog ]
[Subscribe to Our Life in the Trinity YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ourlifeinthetrinity ]
For Love’s Sake—Abandoned Blessings
By Linda Rex
I think the story of St. Patrick is a fascinating one. I never knew until a few years ago I could read his writings and learn quite a bit about this man in the process (for example, go to: https://archive.org/details/writingsofsaintp00patr). In his writings, we see a man just like you and me, who struggled in his relationship with God, in his own personal life, and in coming to know what it meant to follow Christ and to live this out in a pagan culture in which his life and well-being were always at risk.
In my life, years ago, the March 17th holiday celebrating his life was lumped, along with many others, into the category of pagan holidays. I have since made the effort to learn the story behind the observation of this day, and most specifically, the story of St. Patrick’s life and service to God in spreading the Trinitarian gospel of love. I’ve come to see there is something to be said for pausing in the midst of our life to reflect on the beauty of the Trinity, and to once again embrace our calling to lay it all down so others may know God as he really is.
What struck me about St. Patrick’s life was not just the suffering he went through as a slave among the Celtic people who stole him from his home. Rather, what really hit home was the choice he made later in life when he was free and at home with his family, to leave it all behind and go back to the Celtic people who had so disrupted his life, so they could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This resembles so much what the apostle Paul wrote when describing the ministry of God to us in his Son:
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8 NASB)
When we think about the Word of God, who was God and who was With God, who lived eternally in this inner relation of interpenetrating love and mutual submission, we must realize at some point, God had all he needed—he was at perfect peace, in perfect joy, in such glory and splendor there was no reason for the Word of God to come to this far country, to enter our darkness and blackness, except—love. There is no other possible motivation for doing such a thing—but this is what Jesus said he did: “For God so loved the world he gave…” The Father’s love was so great, even the Father was part of the coming of the Word into our broken, fallen cosmos.
I remember as I first read the story of St. Patrick, I was horrified by the experiences he went through in his simple effort to love God and to share the truth of God’s love for us in Jesus. Why would anyone choose to go through such experiences? Apart from the love of God placed in their hearts, they wouldn’t. It is only the love of God himself which could enable us to give so freely in the midst of such danger, hostility and abuse. The freedom to give one’s life completely in this way is a participation in the freedom of God to give himself completely to us, to humanity, even when he knew it meant he would experience suffering and death at our hands.
This has been on my mind a lot the past few weeks—just how much do we as comfortable, well-fed, well-dressed, well-employed people of any nation, creed or language, express this same willingness to set aside the benefits and comforts of our lives for the sake of sharing the love of God in Christ with those who are caught in the darkness of evil, poverty, suffering and grief? Does it break our hearts that others around us do not know who God really is, and that he loves them just as much as he loves us? Do we care enough to do as Jesus did—leave all the blessings for a time so others might experience God’s love?
And yet, this is a struggle for me. What does it mean to truly love another human being? Is it best to just give a hungry person money? Or is it better to help them find a way to feed themselves? Is it best to give someone money for a place to stay for the night? Or is it better to let them experience the consequences of refusing to get sober so they could stay at the mission at night and eventually get a job and own their own home?
Really, what does it mean to leave our comforts so others may find comfort? What does it mean to show and teach our neighbor the love of God in Christ?
We cannot fix other people, but we can sure bring them to Christ and participate with Christ in what he is doing to heal, restore, and renew them. We cannot, and should not, do for others what they should be and could be doing for themselves. Carrying other people’s loads in their place is not healthy for them or for us (Gal. 6:5). And yet, God calls us to be available to help others who are overburdened beyond their ability to bear up (Gal. 6:2), for this reflects God’s heart of love.
Loving others should not arise out of a sense of guilt or shame, but out of a genuine concern and compassion which comes straight from the heart of the Father, through Jesus in the Spirit. It is best to be discerning in our loving of others as ourselves. Loving another person doesn’t automatically mean we give them what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. Loving another person may mean saying no, or telling them the truth in love, or asking them to get the help they need so they can heal, grow or change.
This brings to mind the apostle Paul’s prayer: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9–11 NASB) Prayer and listening to God’s Word to us via the Holy Spirit and the written Word are important parts of knowing what we need to do to love others as ourselves.
We need the grace of God, God’s wisdom, insight and discernment to know how best to share God’s love with others. God gave St. Patrick a call to go to Ireland and he did—but then God also gave him the grace to do the ministry he called him to. We walk by faith, trusting God to guide our footsteps, to give us wisdom in how we love others and tell them the truth about who God is and who they are in Christ. As we keep in tune with the Spirit, God will guide us and teach us how to love each unique person he puts in our path.
Abba, may we each be filled with your heart of love toward those who are caught in darkness, suffering and difficulty. May we be willing to leave our blessings behind as you ask us to and be willing to struggle and suffer and lay down our lives, so others may share in the Triune life and love with us, through Jesus our Lord and by your precious Spirit. Amen.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:7–10 NASB
Our Life in the Trinity 