¹³ “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

Love is the greatest of all Christian virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13) and in our passage, Jesus identifies the greatest form of love—giving one’s life for another person. Notice, He doesn’t speak of self-sacrifice as an end in itself, as though denying oneself intrinsically adds to one’s merit. One can be sacrificial for the wrong ends. For example, an athlete denies himself many pleasures in life that others enjoy and endures much pain in training in order to reach his goal of victory in the games. Some train for years at great personal cost, dedicated to living a very disciplined lifestyle. But in the end, he enjoys the glory received for the victory he has achieved.

But this is not the “laying down his life” that Jesus spoke about, the goal is much higher. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Cor 9:25). What we have in our passage today points to the ultimate, perfect goal that is worthy of complete self-sacrifice. Think of it like a boxing match between another person’s interest versus our own interest. This is truly not just the fight of the century, but the struggle of all of life. Is the ultimate principle self-survival as evolutionists assert? Do I live my life for me, as humanism teaches? Am I the “master of my fate, the captain of my soul?” In the end is it all about me, number one? Or is it about living my life for the sake of others? Jesus answers that question in our verse for today. Love is the antithesis of self-centered living.

Of course, in marriage, we speak about love putting the other person first. But Jesus is speaking much more deeply than marriage. He speaks of sacrificial love as a lifestyle, as the core principle of life. If the greatest love is to sacrifice one’s very life, then love must inherently be a core, saturating life principle. To see how deeply this must penetrate every corner of our lives, we only have to look at that great gospel verse as the model of what Jesus is asking us to do, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro 5:8). God loves both friends, as He spoke of in the Upper Room, and also sinners of all ranks. “For God so loved the world …” (John 3:16). He loves His enemies. Likewise, we must make sacrificial love our lifestyle and focus. In today’s world the phrase “sexual orientation” is in vogue. For Christians, we need to be clear about our “love orientation.” As MacDonald writes, “Some lay down their lives in a literal sense; others spend their whole lives in untiring service for the people of God” (MacDonald).

Lord, let “love” be a lifestyle of sacrifice in my life and in my death.