Sacrificial Love

Lesson #246 

In John 15:1 – 11, we saw the importance of obeying the command to bear fruit. We now transition to another commandment: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12 ESV). In verse 9 we were commanded to abide in his love just as Jesus abides in his Father’s love. Jesus now repeats the commandment to love one another as he has loved us (see John 13:34). We are to first love God and then as proof that we do, we are to love one another. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son and out of obedience he came as Jesus to die to purchase our salvation. Out of love for us, Jesus was willing to sacrifice his life that we might have eternal life. In view of the command to bear fruit, it would seem that to love others as Jesus loved us, even while we were yet sinners, we should be willing to sacrifice ourselves, if necessary, to reach out with the gospel to those who are still dead in their sin. Our love for one another is to be a sacrificial love, which will provide a benefit for the one being loved. It is not a love based on what we will get out of it, but what the one being loved gains. We see this in the next verse.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 ESV). No one can carry love farther than this: for, when he gives his life, he gives all he has to give. I read about this so often when I read about the behavior of Christians who stand before those who torture them. Since they have deferred justice to God for the evil against them, they are then free to love and forgive those who are causing them to suffer or to even die. Those who do this are loving even their enemies the way Jesus loved when he died for our salvation.

Consider the following as an example of the love Jesus had for us: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10 NKJV). How much are we willing to suffer for the benefit of others?

Prayer

Father, today our love is probably stronger for self than it is for others. An example of this is the emphasis on selfies, even among Christians. In the last days’ people will be lovers of self (2 Timothy 3:1 – 2) and so we take pictures of ourselves in various settings for all to see. Some are even willing to risk their lives to get an exceptional picture. Father, we need to crucify ourselves with Christ and reach out with love for others for their benefit as Jesus did.