Living Sacrifice part 5
Laying your life down for your friends is the greatest love you can have. But that doesn't necessarily mean literally, physically dying. That does happen. Soldiers defending their nation, or religious martyrs. Things like that. But more practically, it simply means putting others first. Not worrying about yourself because you're too busy taking care of others. Presenting your body to the Lord as a LIVING sacrifice. Giving everything you have and everything you are. That's what this life is for. That's what it's all about. Remember a couple of days ago we looked at David desribing the lifting of his hands unto the Lord as a sacrifice? It doesn't always have to be the "traditional" idea of a sacrifice. Doing what someone else wants instead of doing what you want is a sacrifice. You're sacrificing yourself. Your wants. your desires. You're giving your Three T's (Time, Talent, and Treasure) to and for someone else. Esteeming them higher than yourself. Understanding, if I can say it this way, that it's not all about you. It's not about getting. Because love is giving. Again, giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And that's pretty key when it comes to relationships. Because if you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend. It's that simple. People who are hard to love... are hard to love. And I'm not saying we shouldn't love those people. Quite the opposite. I'm saying we SHOULD love those people, because nobody else is. But it's hard to have relationships with people that only take. Sometimes it feels like you're shouting into the void. Or pouring yoruself into a black hole. That's exhausting. It can feel like you're giving and giving and giving and never getting anything back until you're empty. Notice I said "feels like." Because that's NOT how it really is. How it really is, is that we give ourselves to the Lord and then HE does what HE wants to do in us, and through us, and as us. We connect ourselves to the unlimited supply of love that IS God (the unlimited supply of love that HE has already connected us to) and then we can give without worrying about getting. We can give without worrying about running out. We can give, and we can experience what we have to give through the act of giving. It's all about love. Which means it's all about giving. Because love IS giving. But you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you have. You have to receive it before you can release it. You have to let God love you before you can love Him back by loving people. That's why the Bible speaks of God first loving us. He gave us what we needed. Now all we do is fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Now all we do is give what we've got. Share what we've got. The New Commandment is to love one another as Jesus loves you. To give what you've been given. To receive it and release it. To present our bodies as a living sacrifice... so that we can truly live. By letting God live in us, and through us, and as us. God is love. That's what He has given us. That's what He's concerned with. When we sacrifice ourselves to God we are sacrificing ourselves to love. Letting love rule and reign in our hearts and minds and body. Letting the love that's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Letting the love of God control us. We are prisoners of Christ. Prisoners of love. If love controls you, you'll do whatever you do simply and only because it's in your heart to do it. If you present yourself as a love sacrifice to God, you'll present yourself as a love sacrifice to the people in your life. You'll love them. And you'll love them BY giving yourself to them. Your time. Your talent. Your treasure. You'll sacrifice yourself to God by sacrificing yourself to people. You'll love God and love people. You'll love God BY loving people!