In following Jesus’ example and direction, we live with
sacrificial love for everyone around us. We put the needs of others ahead of
our own needs. We give our resources, time, energy, empathy and compassion.
However, this lifestyle will deplete our emotional energy, if we live it in the
flesh. Codependent people are servants at heart, and they give so much to so
many so often, that they burn out. God tells us to love others as we love our
self. We need to take time to meet our needs too, and to allow others to meet
our needs.
The only way we can truly love others sacrificially is
through obedience to the Spirit of God. We grow into the fullness of the
stature of Christ because His Spirit transforms us into His likeness (Ephesians
4:13; 2 Corinthians 3:18). God’s love within us allows us to forgive the
slights, abuses and violations perpetrated against us. He also enables us to
cry with those who suffer; and rejoice, without jealousy or bitterness, with
those who are celebrating (Romans 12:15).
The world, the flesh and the devil do not want us to love
unconditionally. They want us to fling accusations concerning our trials into
the face of God (Matthew 16:23). They want us to react in hate,
to wallow in bitterness and to unleash all of our negative emotions on the one
who hurt us. However, Jesus says to turn the other cheek (Matthew
5:39). It is hard to do that when our normal response is to fight
back. With each temptation to disobey the Lord, we struggle to lay down our
life, and instead, to take up His life within us.
We face a struggle between our fleshly nature and God’s
Spirit (Galatians 5:1, 25). We want to do what is right,
but we often fail in times of crisis (Matthew 6:22-23, 16:13-16). Finding
Christian friends who are experiencing a similar life crisis soothes our soul
and gives us prayer partners. God proves His love and kindness to us as He
guards, fortifies and leads us through these troubled waters. In the end, God’s
faithful Saints will receive commendation, prominence and even more authority,
once the Lord returns for us (1 Peter 1:7).
Our sacrifice of love is an expression of our love for and
gratitude toward God. The world recognizes us as Believers, because of the
depth of our love for one another and for the world around us (John
13:34-35). There are so many hurting people in the world who need
the love of God; and we are just the ones to show them that we love them,
because He first loved us. We have the only true, eternal hope, which is
available to offer to our hurting family, friends, associates, neighbors and
even people we have only just met (Romans 5:5).
Prayer:
Father God, many of life’s storms come to prove that our
faith in Your faithfulness is valid, and worth more to us than any earthly
riches. You often allow tribulation in our life to prove to us that You love
us, or to redirect our course of action and to center us in Your will for our
life. We can patiently wait and watch for Your divine intervention on our
behalf (Exodus 14:13). Help us to share Your
sacrificial love only with those You want us to reach out to.
Thought for the Day:
God so loved the whole world that He
sacrificially gave His only begotten Son to save us from a life of sin.
