Love, Sacrifice, Unselfishness

A volunteer at Stanford Hospital tells about a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare disease.

She had one chance of recovery - a blood transfusion from her 5-yr. old brother. You see, her brother had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies which were needed to combat the illness.

The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. The boy hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it, if it will save Liz."

He lay in the bed next to his sister while the transfusion took place. He looked up at the doctor, and asked in a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

The boy had not understood what was really going on. He thought the doctor was asking him to give all of his blood to his sister!

Here was a boy who was willing to die so that his sister could live. Jesus said: "Unless you become as little children, there is no way you can enter into the Kingdom of God."

The King-dom of God is merely 'The Dom-inion of The King as He works in your life." It is the will of God being fulfilled in you. It is the nature of God being made manifest in your life. It is the Spirit of Christ ruling in your thoughts and decisions.

Let's ask ourselves: "Am I, in any way, giving up what I want so that someone else can have what they need?"

Second question: "Am I doing it willingly, gladly and with a joyful heart? - or - Am I giving in to their wishes with resentment, bitterness, accusations and other wrong attitudes"? Is that how Jesus went to the grave?

A man may give the robber all of his money, but that can never be considered 'a sacrifice'. He gave out of fear and coercion. He gave because he had to, not because he wanted to. You may obey your parents or your husband, but obedience by itself is not a virtue. The attitude and motive and thoughts behind the obedience are the things which determine whether or not God can bless you for the obedience.

I remember the day that I learned this principle well. Someone purposely stole and destroyed some of my things. I accepted the loss just as though I had given those things away. I used that occasion as a reason to pray for them, to forgive them and to bless them. I used every remembrance of the loss to pray for all the members of their family - asking God to save someone in the family because of my loss.

I went on to pray that they would be filled with the nature of God and go forth to work in God's vineyard - producing much eternal fruit - just because I had suffered a temporal loss.

Just because we don't choose to lay down our lives - we can pray for our adversaries as we are dying - like Stephen did when he was stoned. As a result, God saved Saul of Tarsus and caused him to fulfill Stephen's ministry in the earth - and rather effectively too!

God is a God of Love! But, not love as we know it. Divine love is a love that sacrifices itself for the sake and for the benefit of another. It is God becoming flesh for us and living in a body of limitations so that we could be free from the limiting and fatal effects of sin.

His love is pure even though the object of His love is impure. It is a love that gives even when the receiver does not deserve that which is being given.

If God's love rules your behavior, then the King of Heaven truly has dominion in your life. You have inherited the Kingdom of God. But, if the world, the flesh or the devil dominates your thinking and your reactions, then you know nothing about the politics of heaven and the government of God.

Almost anyone can be religious, but not everyone can literally obey the Spirit of Jesus. When He says: "Love your enemies." He expects us to lay down a portion of our lives for their sakes and for the sake of the Gospel. When He says: "Love your neighbor as yourself" He expects us to be forbearing toward their faults and longsuffering toward them when they keep making mistakes. He expects us to be patient while we wait for them to 'get the picture' of what God wants for their lives. He expects us to show them kindness even when they say mean and vindictive things against us. On top of all that, He expects us to lay down some of our own preferences and desires so that they can be helped and benefited.

A selfish and stubborn willfulness can never be the trademark of Christ or those who follow Christ. Yes, it is possible to be a Christian and yet not truly follow and obey the spirit of Christ's teachings.

Families and churches split because one side or the other cannot give in and accept the weaknesses of the other. Divorce and church chaos takes place when Christians cannot give up their rights or lay down certain aspects of their lives for others.

God knows that you don't naturally have His kind of love in your life. He knows you can't love with that kind of love just because a preacher tells you to. He knows that it is not in man to be like Him.

But, He is willing to pour a measure of Himself into any individual who will get hungry for God's kind of love and be thirsty for more of God's kind of spirit. He is waiting for people to ask Him for more of His nature. He loves to pour Himself into people who want Him in their lives. He is anxious to teach you His way and to give you His wisdom.

As He pours His love into you, He expects you to let go of some of your resentments. He expects you to turn your anger and hate over to Him. He expects you to obey Him when He says: "Forgive them."

He wants you to give in - give up and surrender. He expects your stubborn will to bend and bow and break. He expects you to abandon your old ways in order to follow Him and to learn of His ways. He wants you to be teachable so that His kind of thinking can become a part of your reactions in life.

No - we can't gain this kind of Christ-likeness all at once. It comes bit by bit and little by little. It comes in the midst of great pain and agony sometimes - just as Christ agonized in the garden as He resisted the pressures of sin that came against Him that night.

The nature of Christ is formed in us by trial and error. We want to do good, but then we fail. We often know that we have failed and we feel terrible. But, that's not the end of the world. We learn to get up and try again. We learn to spot the next opportunity to become like Jesus ahead of time. We learn to be ready for the occasions which call for a decision to follow Christ instead of our own inclinations.

Most of our normal human reactions are wrong reactions. It is totally abnormal to react according to the teachings of Jesus. Who naturally does good things for those who hate them? Who automatically loves their enemies? Who instinctively rejoices when someone tells outright lies about them? Who gets sued and joyfully gives their adversary twice as much as they are asking for? Is there anyone around who, by nature, says nice things about those who criticize them? If someone curses you, do you instantly bless them?"

You see, the nature of Christ is something that not all Christians possess, because it is not an inherent part of their nature and personality. We tend to make excuses for not obeying Bible principles. We justify our wrong reactions. We point to the wrong in others as a reason for our wrong reactions.

Have you ever heard anyone say, "Well, I'm only human." My! My! Isn't that a shame! People who are only human, do not have a shred of the divine life in them. Christ is not in them and they are not in Christ. They are saying, "I do not have any of God's Holy Spirit within me. After all - I am only human - nothing else!"

If we are born again by the Spirit of God, we are not only human. Divine life has been imparted to us and we are not to act as though we were only human. If we have the Spirit of God within us, then we are to walk in that Spirit. That means our behavior is to be governed by the principles and the power of God's Spirit. Our reactions are supposed to be according to the teachings of Jesus. We are to be more than 'mere humans'.

How many times have you heard it said: "Nobody's perfect!"? Who said anything about being perfect? How about if we just begin to grow in the knowledge and the grace of God? Why can't we at least improve on our past reactions and begin to react a little better each time?

We need to have a goal of becoming something more than we are today. After all, we can become more like Christ. It is possible. Why would God ask us to do something that cannot be done? When Jesus tells a crippled man to walk, He also imparts power and ability into the man. When God tells us to 'Be Holy', He is ready and willing to give us a strong desire for holiness as well as the ability to be holy.

But, if we draw back in rebellion or curl up in unbelief, we block His Spirit from doing any good in our lives. We need to mix desire with faith and then add to our faith the attempt to obey. If we falter or fail, we can accept God's mercy and forgiveness and then ask for more grace. His Word says: "You have not because you ask not!" He also says: "Come boldly before the throne of grace so that you can obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need."

Now, back to our original topic - "Divine Love and Self-Sacrifice". God's Word speaks of Jesus, saying:

"Greater Love has no man than this,

that He lay down His life for His friends."

If we are to walk as Jesus walked, we will often be called upon to lay down our desires and preferences within the church, so that someone else can be satisfied and blessed. We will not always be rising up in combat against those who are wrong. We will not be pitting our will against the will of others.

When things don't go our way in the church, we can criticize or intercede. What would the divine nature do? What would human nature do? If you want to be 'only human' then you cannot possibly partake of divine rewards!

Do you want to run after earthly and temporal results in your life and in the lives of those around you - or can you lift up your eyes and behold the Lamb of God and take up your cross and follow Him?

If we cannot sacrifice a few desires for our friends within the church, how in the world can we manifest the nature of Christ toward those who are in the world?

Paul the Apostle said: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly!" He didn't just lay down His life for His friends. He didn't just die for His followers and for His mother and brothers and sisters. He didn't lay down His life for those who loved Him. He died for those who were ungodly - for those who were unlike Him - and even for those who were against Him.

The call of God goes out in this hour to anyone who can hear His voice. He is asking us to "Learn of Him" He wants us to learn His ways. He is meek and lowly. He is loving and forgiving. He is forbearing and patient and longsuffering. He is kind and gentle. He is tolerant and understanding. He lays down his comfort to take away our pain. He wants us to do the same for others - first within our families - then within the church - and finally toward those out in the world.

Will we continue to make excuses for not being like Him? Will we fail to even try to do His will? Will we refuse to practice and practice and practice - what He preached. Will we fail to ask and ask and ask for the ability to succeed?

The little boy surrendered his life to save the life of his sister and asked,

"Will I start to die right away?"

As you truly surrender to Christ, you can ask, "Will I start to die right away?" And Jesus will say,

"As I begin my work in you, you will begin to die. But, as you die, My life will be transferred into you and you will begin to live again. The more of your life you give up, the more of My life you can have. The greater your sacrifice and surrender, the greater your rewards and blessings.

Fear not! I am the Resurrection and the Life - He that believes in Me, even though He dies, yet will he live again. He that loses His life for my sake shall find it. He who gives up any portion of his life to obey My principles will be compensated in this life and in the life to come.

Do you believe this? If you believe - then be quick to obey and to do what you must do. For I am the one who is working in you, giving you the desire to do My will and waiting for the right time to give you the power and ability to carry out My plans in your daily actions and behavior. Trust in Me with all your heart and you will not be disappointed or ashamed."