The Beatles said "All you need is love".
But what is love?
I heard once that when you love someone, the needs, the dreams, and the desires of that person become more important to you than your own.
Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13)
Sometimes we think that laying down our life for someone is something we can put off because we figure, "well, that means if I have to choose, some day, between my life and theirs, I will choose their life! Ok, so if that day ever comes..."
For most of us, will we ever really be faced with a life or death choice like that? Perhaps there is something more to this?
Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:33
Later, John (who was there when Jesus said those words) would write "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 and sisters." 1 John 3:16
Laying down our life can mean physical death, but it more often refers to something much more difficult.
It means setting aside our own selfish desires and choosing someone else's needs over our own.
This kind of death, the death of self, is often even more difficult.
Self dies hard. It dies loudly, often with speeches and self centered declarations along the way.
Paul writes in Philippians,
"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! Phil 2:5-8 (NIV)
As the Body of Christ, we are meant to be the salt of the world, the light for all to see. And how are we to be that salt and light? Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." "John 13:34
We desire for our church, for our lives to point to Christ. When the world looks at us, what do they see? Do they see us loving each other?
Are we fulfilling the Word of God?
Maybe the Beatles were onto something.
All we need is love...
