"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."--John 15:13
Yesterday at work I was thinking about this verse, and wondering what the spiritual application is. Obviously it is an act of love to give your physical life for your friends--after all, that is what Jesus did. But how do we lay down our lives without being physically killed? Jesus laid down his physical life for us, but how is this verse "spirit" (John 6:63)? I didn't know the answer, so I just asked God. A very simple prayer: "Father, what does that verse mean?"
The very next morning--this morning--the answer was given. I was listening to "Can We Lose God's Spirit and Eonian Life?" and Ray said this:
v. 15 Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal (eonian or age lasting) life abiding in him.
v. 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
It doesn’t mean we are to go out and let a truck drive over you, it just means you should serve. When you use your time, your money, your effort, your energy, your emotions to help somebody else, whether it be a friend, a neighbor, your husband, your wife, your children to the extent you do. All the time doing, thinking, praising, helping someone else, you are laying your life down for them. I mean living, breathing, moving, doing, saying - that’s life. When all your living, breathing, doing… when a lot of that is directed towards somebody who will profit from your looking after them and being concerned, that’s laying down your life. That’s how you lay down your life, without actually dying.
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Topic: Laying down your life (Read 3491 times)