On
Valentine's Day this verse came up as the verse of the day on the YouVersion
Bible app:
"Greater
love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John
15:13 NIV
Jesus
said this to His disciples and a few hour later, He was arrested and crucified.
In this one sentence, Jesus summed up what He had come to Earth to do. He came
to lay His life down for His friends.... and you and me.
That
is love. Love that cannot be beat.
But
what does this verse say to us? I don't think anyone reading this is going have
to die for a friend. In this case, Jesus wants us to lay our life down in a
different way. He wants us to offer our time to make someone's day. He wants us
to offer our resources to help others.
That is what He was all about during His ministry on Earth. He was about
love and that is it. Everything He did while on Earth flowed through love.
Jesus
wanted that love to continue so He told His disciples:
"My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one
than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John
15:12-13 NIV
Jesus
wants us to love like He loves us. Love is what draws people to Jesus and what
the world needs now is love.
"What
the world needs now is love sweet love,
It's
the only thing that there's just too little of.
What
the world needs now is love sweet love,
No
not just for some but for everyone."1
[1] Writer(s): David Hal, Burt F. Bacharach
Sang
by: originally by Jackie DeShannon and covered by Dionne Warwick
Lyric
found on azlyrics.com - What The World Needs Now Is Love