Lay Down Your Life

Here are some of my msings from the sermon at church this morning. It was on these verses from John 15:

My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you.13 The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them.14 And you are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. 16 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. 17 This, then, is what I command you: love one another.

Love others. Do it as I have loved you. No other caveats. Not to love others like you. Not to love others that make it easy for you. Do it. And do it as I have loved you. Without judgement, and without hesitation. Go. Do.

Laying down your life is not necessarily about being willing to physically die, but about being willing to die to yourself. Are you willing to put another person's needs ahead of your own? Are you happy when someone succeeds? Can you drop everything and be there for them when they need a shoulder, or better yet someone to actually be the hands and feet when they just can't do it for themselves. Do you love someone enough to cross a line, even if it is uncomfortable, to be there for them when they need it, even if they aren't even aware that they need it?

The greatest defense of Christianity is not an argument. It is the way you live your life. Can people see Jesus when they look at you? Can they hear Him when you speak? Can they feel Him when they are with you?