October 9


No Greater Love
John 15:12-13


What is it that you love more than life itself?

Most of us, when we hear that question, interpret it to mean, "What would I risk my life for?"  Think of the things you might risk your life for:

  • If you saw a friend drowning, would you jump in to save him, even at risk of your life?
  • How about your family?  Mothers rush back into burning buildings seeking their children.
  • Many have been known to risk their lives for their country, or the cause of freedom.
But that is not the example Christ puts before us.  The example here is of this type:  "If it were 100% certain that you were going to die in order that … should live, whose name fills in the blank?"

The answer says much about you.  It is fortunate for most of us that the question is seldom truly presented.  Most such instances come about suddenly.  In so doing, they reveal our impulses, based upon our character.  They do not reveal what deliberate choice we might have made.  Christ, in going to the Cross, made the deliberate choice to die.
Here he gives us a command, and an explanation of it.  As he has loved us, we should love each other--to the point of laying down our lives for each other.   This is indeed a great love, but even if we are called to do so, it is still an imitation of Christ.
There are some differences, however:
  • We cannot choose to die--and rise again.  We can only choose to die.  Then again, we didn't have to descend from heaven to make that choice.
  • We are not an atonement for sins, either.

As our choices in this matter would say much about us, so our Lord's choice says much about himself.  It tells us who He loves:
  • It is clear that he loves God perfectly--for in so doing he obeys his commands perfectly.
  • It is equally clear that he loves us perfectly.
The virtue of having a perfect example is that you need never say, "Yes, but…"  Be perfect;  imitate his love.