Love Is Sacrifice

This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. —1 John 3:16

So often in our society, the word love is described as a feeling. Though biblical love is not detached from feelings, those feelings are not solely the warm fuzzies we normally associate with love.

More often than not when the Bible talks about love, it attaches words like pain, sacri- fice, suffering, selflessness, obedience—and joy. They are words that we don’t usually hear when the world talks about love.

The world says, “Love doesn’t hurt.” We’ve got so much to learn! Praise God that we have the perfect example to teach us. Look at the love that God poured out on us at that old rugged cross. He crushed His Son, Jesus, to make us His children! Consider that our Lord had His face set to Calvary, knowing full well the cost. Remember, He loved us so much that He described it as “the joy that lay before him” (Heb. 12:2). Amazing!