I have called you friends… —John 15:15
“We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we
surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most
difficult thing for us to do. [..] We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice
in either of these ways. […] The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down
our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into
our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the
thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is
the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love. […] Have I ever yielded myself
in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? […] Beware of letting your natural
desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill
natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love
on natural desires. […] for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical
thing imaginable. […] Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He
created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only
to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted
to God.” CHAMBERS
(Matthew 22:37-39)
tells us that we are to love God first and others next. The love that we are
called to give has no self-motivation. It is not about what we can get, but what we
can give. It requires self-sacrifice. The Spirit of God is the source of power for
that love. We cannot love the way God
loves us unless the Spirit of God is in us.
God’s design is that we be in fellowship with Him, and because of the
Fall in the Garden, we need the Spirit .. rebirth .. to fulfill God’s purpose.
There are so many weddings that invoke the name of God and
promise a love that is based upon a relationship with God, when that relationship
does not exist. It is almost like the
marriage ceremony is an incantation. If
the right words are said properly, in the correct order, the marriage will
work. Then, one or the other spouse
realizes that sacrificial love is not going to happen. That each one is looking for personal fulfillment,
and are not really interested in being the source of fulfillment for the
other. Ephesians 5:25 says that husband are to love their wives like Jesus
loves the Church and gave himself up for her. (1 John
4:10) “This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins.” You can’t love someone like
that apart from the power of God. But,
that is how we are to love each other. (John
15:13) “Greater love has no man (person) than this, that he lay down his
life for his friends.” If you are
married and are not being loved like that .. husband or wife .. there is a
spiritual problem. Sound harsh? Perhaps … but it is true nonetheless. Think about it. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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