READING: Zechariah 2-5; Psalm 93; 1 John 3
The world hardly thinks about giving ourselves for the sake of others. Sure, there are altruistic people throughout the world, but they’re the exception rather than the norm. What the world promotes is “Get what you can get; do what’s right for you.” In fact, “you can even determine your own truth for yourself, and no one has a right to question it.” If you don’t like where you are in life, don’t love the person you married anymore, or just face a midlife crisis, it’s right and expected that you’ll do what you think is best for you – with, in many cases, little regard for others. Even for those who really do love their families the best way they know how, sacrificing and/or giving up their lives for others not in their family of origin often seems foreign to them.
For the Christ-follower, though, expectations are different. We are to love our brothers and sisters—members of God’s body, consisting of people from every nation, language, and tribe—and give ourselves for their good. Indeed, John says that’s one way we show we have some understanding of God’s great love for us: “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). With the same kind of love God first loved us, we’re to love others. We lay our lives down so others might see, love, and follow Christ.
This Thanksgiving Day, I’m deeply grateful for the believers who love Pam and me with this kind of love. God is good.
PRAYER: “Thank You, God, for those who love us. Help me to love others with Your love.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Zechariah 6-8; 1 John 4