No Greater Love

Discipleship Devotional, January 22nd, 2025

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
– John 15:13 (KJV)

The sacrifice of Christ is the best demonstration of selfless love in world history. When we look at the context of all that led to the crucifixion at Calvary, the best way to explain it is love. Jesus, who is God incarnate, was born in a manger and grew up as a lowly carpenter. To add to this, He was lied against, rejected by many, and spat on. During His crucifixion, He was mocked and jested at. We must keep in mind that at any point, He could have chosen to free Himself and judge all these people, but because He loves us dearly, He decided to suffer shame.

The Bible says that because of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame. That joy that was set before Him was the freedom of you and me. He died for those who were nailing Him, those who stoned Him, those who slapped Him, those who spat on Him—He died for them all. In fact, He went on to pray to the Father to forgive them even while they were killing Him. Truly, there is no greater love than this.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-Romans 5:7-8 (NIV)

Paul says that Christ demonstrated His love towards us by dying for us—not when we had repented or changed, but while we were still sinners. Now think about this: if He would do all this for you even when you were a sinner, what would He do for you now that you are saved? If God did not spare His only Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) Therefore, I encourage you this morning to trust in the Lord your God. Trust that He loves you and has your best interests at heart.

PRAYER:
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the selfless love You lavished on us at Calvary.