I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My commandment is this; love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them. And you are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in my name. This, then, is what I command you: love one another. (John 15:11-17)

    “Giving your life for someone” has always made me think of rushing into a burning building to save someone or defending the people you love against some raving murderer coming into your home. But, what are the odds than any of us will ever be called upon to do that? I’ve been going at this “giving your life for someone” from a different angle to try to come up with a definition for love that Jesus wants to come to life in our everyday lives.

This is love!

    “Lay down your life.” Hmm? How about looking at it literally: “laying your life aside” for someone else. We know that one. A mother loving her child because she will give up her much needed sleep to care for her baby. Or a friend dropping everything to rush to the hospital when she hears that her friend has been in an accident. A cousin getting up early to check the e-mail because she thinks another cousin may be there needing some encouragement. A wife giving up her day off to help her husband with his project. This list could just go on and on. And I’m not even hitting anything heavy here. But this is love! This is what the Spirit of Christ does in us!

    Are we really willing to make sacrifices for others? To put others first and show our love for them by “laying our lives aside”? Or putting our lives on hold for awhile in order to show our love? Jesus said that others will know we are His followers if they can see the love we have for each other.

If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples. (John 13:35 )