22. Serving…

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:13

There are two images that immediately spring to mind for me when I read these words. First there is Jesus dying on the cross, giving up his life, so that I may be reconciled to God. There is no greater expression of love. The second image is of Anzac Day in Australia commemorating soldiers who gave their lives to save others.

Today I want to move from the big, one-off sacrifices, to the daily giving of our lives for our friends and families. Whilst the big, heroic gestures have a place in saving lives, for most of us it is the everyday opportunities to make smaller gestures that demonstrate the greatness of our love.

What do these gestures look like? They are things like getting up earlier than usual to prepare breakfast for the family. Or giving up your seat on the train. Or spending your annual leave serving the poor at home or abroad. Or paying for a friend to have a weekend away. Or…

You get the picture – every little thing we give up for another, if it is done in love, is a small ‘death’ of self which demonstrates that love. Yes, Jesus was alluding to his own death on the cross – the ultimate expression of unconditional love – when he said these words to his disciples. But they are equally applicable to us each day.

There are some amazing people down through history who have given their lives daily in the service of others. Mother Teresa is one who is very well known. She was just an ordinary nun on a bus on the way to start teaching in a girl’s school when God stopped her in her tracks and showed her the multitude of poor Indian people cast out and alone. She dedicated the rest of her life to serving the poor and terminally ill in India.

Henri Nouwen had a fantastic position as a teacher at Harvard University which he gave up to serve as pastor to severely disabled people at L’Arche community in Toronto.

Friends of mine have given years to translating the Bible into the Tagalog dialect so this group of unreached Philippians can hear the message of hope and salvation.

I know that, like me, you can easily call to mind someone who lays down their life for others in service. But what about you and I? How are we serving God by laying down our lives each day? What can we give up so that others can live better? Maybe it is that new item of clothing you’ve been saving for so you can donate to a worthy charity. Or, perhaps, it is giving of your time as a volunteer. There are so many ways you and I can serve God through serving others.

Prayer: Thank you for setting the bar so high when you gave your life on the cross for me. Thank you for the many examples of people whose great love has been demonstrated by their service, their giving of themselves for others. Help me, today and each day, to have such a love in my heart that I am compelled to give myself to the service of others.

Amen

Action: What does your great love compel you to give up today in the service of others?

Journal your thoughts…