Romans 5:7 (NLT)
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
What in your life right now are you willing to die for? Really, consider the depth of that question. Now, let’s take it a step further: Who would you die for?
I once read a story of a six-year-old girl who had a rare blood type and had contracted a deadly disease requiring a blood transfusion. Her 9-year-old brother was the only one in the family who had the same type of blood as her. So, the parents asked her big brother if he would give blood. The boy thought over the scenario for a moment and then he said, “Yes, I will.”
After the procedure was over, they put a Band-Aid on the big brother's arm. Lying there on the bed with big tears in his eyes he asked, “Doctor, when will I die?” Can you feel the weight of that moment? This young boy thought that by giving his blood to his little sister, he was actually laying down his life. Let that sink in. Imagine the magnitude of love and sacrifice this little boy had in his heart for his younger sister. He was willing to step into the unknown—the eternal—for her.
Jesus, Our Savior
You might be thinking, “That’s a powerful story, but who would do that for me?” I’m here to tell you, Someone did. Jesus laid down His life for you. And get this: Knowing all your sins and flaws, He still said, “Yes, I will.” “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8, NLT). It's mind-boggling to consider that Christ’s love is so powerful, and so strong, that even when we were living a life of rebellion against God, Jesus said, “Yes, I will.”
We struggled to understand God's love because it’s not based on emotion or feelings. It is founded on His active, redemptive power, which is the essence of His character. God’s love for us is not dependent on our actions or our worthiness (Ephesians 2:8–9); rather, it is a love that chose us even when we were at our very worst.
God’s Love and Kingdom Living
Growing in your understanding of God's love is foundational to Kingdom living. The more you comprehend this love, the clearer you will know your new identity and position in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). The Apostle Paul prayed that the Ephesians, “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18–19, CSB).
“To know Christ’s love” is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts because it “surpasses knowledge.” Yet, when we grasp this transcendent love, we will “be filled with all the fullness of God.” Wow, that is powerful! That IS life transforming! When we wrap our mind around that kind of love it frees us from feeling obligated to earn God's favor or feeling obligated to do good works to make God love us more. Instead, we can live in the freedom of our identity and position in Christ knowing we are fully loved and accepted by God (Ephesians 1:17-19).
The Active, Redemptive Love of God
The love of God is active, redemptive, and foundational to Kingdom living. It's not a love that is stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for you to be good enough. This is not a mushy Hallmark card kind of love. This is a cross-bearing kind of love—the kind that transformed the cross from a cruel instrument of torture into the ultimate symbol of love. A love that took the initiative to send Jesus to give you the ultimate blood transfusion to give you life, and more abundantly (John 10:10).
We struggle to relate to the love of God through the cross of Jesus. Yet a nine-year-old boy demonstrated this kind of love to his sick sister. If you are in Christ, you have received the greatest love transfusion of all. It’s stirring through your spiritual veins right now. And the depth of your understanding of this love is indicated by the amount of life transformation you're experiencing, right here, and right now. This kind of love demands a response. Let’s not be a Hallmark kind of Christian and just say we love; let’s be cross-bearing Christians and show it.
1 John 3:16 (NLT)
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.