Word@Work John176 - John 15:12-15
Published: Mon, 01/21/13
Word@Work from BeaconLight
FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND SACRIFICE
John 15:12-15 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (NIV)
True love always involves sacrifice, because pleasing the other person (and that is the essence of love), will not always be convenient to us. The greatest love is totally sacrificial and that is how Jesus has shown His love to us. He expects us to love Him and others in the same way.
True friendship is also self-revealing: we cannot expect others to know about us, unless we reveal ourselves to them. That is the friendship Jesus offers – not only telling us what pleases and displeases Him, but also sharing with us the person He is and the purpose for which He came into the world.
Naturally we are afraid of unlimited self-sacrifice and self-disclosure. Both take us out of our comfort zones and therefore away from being in control. Jesus came to please the Father; and His disciples must respond to Him and each other in the same way. We can never say that we do not know what pleases the Lord, because He has told us. We validate His friendship as we obey Him, which includes being open with others and serving them in Christ’s Name. So let us love each other ( 1 John 4:7-12). But we need to be careful we do not fool ourselves: 1 John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
Prayer: God of Love. Thank You that Jesus sacrificed Himself for me and has disclosed how I can relate with You. I am sorry for the times I try to control things to suit myself. Please help me to be willing to submit to You and the needs of others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
True love always involves sacrifice, because pleasing the other person (and that is the essence of love), will not always be convenient to us. The greatest love is totally sacrificial and that is how Jesus has shown His love to us. He expects us to love Him and others in the same way.
True friendship is also self-revealing: we cannot expect others to know about us, unless we reveal ourselves to them. That is the friendship Jesus offers – not only telling us what pleases and displeases Him, but also sharing with us the person He is and the purpose for which He came into the world.
Naturally we are afraid of unlimited self-sacrifice and self-disclosure. Both take us out of our comfort zones and therefore away from being in control. Jesus came to please the Father; and His disciples must respond to Him and each other in the same way. We can never say that we do not know what pleases the Lord, because He has told us. We validate His friendship as we obey Him, which includes being open with others and serving them in Christ’s Name. So let us love each other ( 1 John 4:7-12). But we need to be careful we do not fool ourselves: 1 John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
Prayer: God of Love. Thank You that Jesus sacrificed Himself for me and has disclosed how I can relate with You. I am sorry for the times I try to control things to suit myself. Please help me to be willing to submit to You and the needs of others. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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