Latest short devotion for the Team

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 1 John 3:16 (NIV)

The search for love and the desire to be wanted is within us all. Think of all the love songs, the films and the tragedies of life that are centred around the need to ‘love and be loved’. This verse tells us of the greatest love of all and the response that it should invoke in each and every one of us.

The greatest sacrifice known to man is shown in those willing to sacrifice their own life for another. We have recently celebrated the 100 Anniversary of the First World War and many tributes have been paid to those who gave their lives for our freedom. We have also celebrated the birth of a baby, whose whole purpose in life was to face death so that we may have true life. This is love beyond measure – Almighty God chose to reveal himself in Christ Jesus, as an infant so that through His life, death and subsequent resurrection, that we may have life.

The life of Jesus demands a response – if we accept it, it tells us what we ought to do as well. Are you willing to sacrifice your own desires, dreams and riches for the sake of others? The Christian life requires that willingness, this is no easy thing, a willingness to lay down our own lives for others.