Most people would say that the ultimate sacrifice of love is denying your own wants and needs for the sake of others. Putting others first and suffering for their sake is how the world says to prove your love and devotion.
I would argue with that concept. I can have nothing in the world, giving it all to others, and still not love them. I can give up all my hopes and dreams for others and still not have love for them. I can even die for someone or something and still not love them. Think about it. Not all martyrs are Christians, they are just stubborn or ignorance of Christianity, and won’t give up their beliefs.
People can get to the point of pride in how little they have and how much they are suffering. They get caught up in self-denial, and then it becomes all about that self-denial. They think they can prove their “love” for Christ by their self-denial and suffering, when in actuality the suffering and denial is their idol.
Paul had something to say about this in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s not a bad thing to deny yourself and carry your cross, but the best is self-sacrificing love. This focuses on God alone, not others or their words of encouragement.
This new love is loving simply to love. It’s “AGAPE” love. If you have been in the church for a while, sometimes even a short while, you have probably heard about this love. Most people describe agape love something like this: unconditional love, with no strings attached.
AGAPE is so much more than that small definition. Someone how gives AGAPE gives even when he or she is rejected, even when he or she is stabbed in the back. He or she gives AGAPE when it is not appreciated, and gives especially when AGAPE is not given back. AGAPE has no emotion attached, and therefore it can always be given, because it is not connected to situations or circumstances.
The biggest key to AGAPE is that it cannot be had or giving without God. He is the only being capable of giving complete AGAPE, and therefore the only being who can yeah others to give it. Without him, I cannot have AGAPE, and neither can you.
#GodIsInControl #redefiningdisciple
#THIRD
