Making Sacrifices

Love is a key requirement if one is to make sacrifice on behalf of someone else. There must be a high level of love for a person to willingly give up something valuable especially their own life.

Jesus teaches this plainly in John 15:12–13:

“[12] This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. [13] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

This statement follows Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches, where He describes the relationship between Himself and His followers. We are connected to Christ just as Christ is connected to the Father. He is the source of our spiritual life, strength, and fruitfulness. Jesus declares that apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). To be connected to Christ means we must abide in His love. Jesus explains this in John 15:10:

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

The implication of this statement is profound. Jesus obeyed the Father perfectly, and that obedience led Him to become a living sacrifice for humanity. Through His death on the cross, He exchanged His life for our eternal life and salvation.

The Apostle John explains it this way in 1 John 4:10:

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”

The word propitiation means Jesus became our substitute. He took our place under God’s righteous judgment against sin. The punishment that should have fallen on us was placed upon Him. His sacrifice was not symbolic it was substitutional.

In essence, Jesus declared:

• “Let Me take their place.”

• “I will bear their punishment.”

• “I will die so they can live.”

Now we arrive again at our text in John 15:12–13:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you… Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Jesus commands us to love others the same way He loved us sacrificially. The measure of our love is not our words, emotions, or intentions. The true gauge of love is our willingness to sacrifice for the good of others, just as Christ sacrificed Himself for us.

The question we must honestly ask ourselves is; What are we willing to sacrifice for others? Are we willing to sacrifice?:

• Our comfort

• Our time

• Our resources

• Our pride

• Our preferences

• Our rights

Christ gave His life so that we could live. Authentic Christian love always costs something. That cost is exemplified by what we are willing to sacrifice on behalf of others.