When my future bride and I were touring in a band, she told me that several guys had proposed to her, but she always rejected them because…
She would ask herself, “If this guy should one day become disabled and I would have to take care of him, would I still want to marry him?”
I’m forever grateful she said no to them and yes to me!
Though I’m not disabled, due to my heart problems Marci has had ample opportunities to care for me when I couldn’t care for myself. She’s never once complained.
That’s love. That’s Marci. She’s got the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.
As I write this, Marci is caring for her best friend who just found out she has stage four pancreatic cancer. As soon as Marci heard the news, she knew she had to book a flight and go help her friend. Paul writes:
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8
That sounds similar to this verse:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
The law of Christ is love—and it’s fully obeyed when we carry each other’s burdens. That’s what Jesus did for us. He carried our burdens to the cross. The prophet Isaiah saw it 500 years before it happened and he wrote:
“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5
That’s love! That’s Jesus!
He suffered a bloody, brutal whipping from men whom He created. Then He let them drive nails into His hands and feet, all because He loved us.
Now risen from the dead, He pours His same sacrificial love into all who open their hearts to Him.
“We love each other because He loved us first.” 1 John 4:19
It’s the divine ripple effect. When you know how much God sacrificed for you, you sacrifice for others. And when we are loving others in this way . . . we are really loving Him.
“I was sick and you looked after me…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:36,40
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13
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