1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters ~ 1 John 3:16

 

This verse is the exact counterpart to John 3:16…God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…and here, because we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us we are to lay down our lives for each other. That is love, pure and simple. In these last couple of weeks, nay, few months, we have seen this principle in action. When covid-19 took over our world, many front-line people have risked their lives to save the lives of those infected with this deadly virus. We cannot thank them enough for what they have and continue to do. Not only the health care workers, but we are also thankful for those who are not so well known…the grocery clerks, the workers who have remained on duty in take-out food places, and other “essential” jobs which have kept us sustained. In the last week or so we have seen another type of laying down of life. I cannot say I in any way understand the prejudice a non-Caucasian person encounters in life. I don’t, and I won’t try to say I do, or ever will. But I can “lay down my life” in this way, and that is to fight for equality for all people when I encounter prejudice. There is no excuse for looking at other people, whether they are black or white, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, and saying you are not as good as me and your rights are not valid. The world is standing up right now for injustice at the hands of those in authority who took a man’s life. Was he a perfect man? Not by any means, he had his issues with the law, but his life still had value. Besides, not one of us is perfect, and though we may not have legal issues with the law, we most certainly may have issues which lead us against the Lord God. His love was shown to us in the grace of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. We have to change, we have to be better at loving our neighbour, at laying down our lives for the betterment of all people. It may not mean a literal laying down of your life, or of mine, but by making sure change happens within our sphere of life, within our governments and laws, then we are laying down our life for another.

Pastor Julia

image: Adam Bouse


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