CHRIST-LIKE LOVE
John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.
Competition even among friends can be a good thing as it spurs each person on to a greater excellence. But this same competition can also destroy friendships as well. The delicate balance lies in the love and respect that each have for one another. Abraham and Lot had this going on in their lives. The Lord had told Abraham to leave his country, people, and his father’s household and go to a land that he would show him. Abraham almost did this with the exception that he took his nephew Lot with him. As God began to bless Abraham, Lot also became blessed. Lot’s people began quarrel with Abraham’s herdsmen over land, and the two had to separate and move apart. Although Abraham was older and Lot was kind of the tag along with him, Abraham allowed Lot to choose the better grazing land for himself, and Abraham settled in the mountains. Rather than fight Lot over the better land, Abraham’s love for Lot chose to bless rather than be bless, and be humbled rather than exalted. Because of this God blessed Abraham greatly with offspring and land.
In today’s verse we see something similar going on with Jesus and John the Baptist. John had begun his ministry of baptism first to point and prepare the way for Jesus and his ministry. Now Jesus and his disciples were in the area and they too were baptizing, and many of John’s followers were going to be with Jesus. John’s disciples probably thought that they and John should make a friendly visit to see Jesus and his followers and sit down for a little talk, if you know what I mean? Instead John probably surprised them by telling them that the joy was all his, for as a friend rejoices for the bridegroom so he is rejoicing over Jesus’ ministry.
Even among friends this is not always the case, and it is not always the case among Christians. “Lord, why can’t I have a big ministry with a big church with the honor and prestige that so in so has?” It might make us blush to know how much this is heard before the throne of God. But while Jesus wants every church to prosper and be all that it could be and should be, he knows that not every pastor can pastor properly under those circumstances, nor the laity fellowship. As John the Baptist told his disciples, “A man can receive only what is given to him from heaven.” In other words if a ministry is inspired by man it can end in grandeur, but one inspired by the Lord will end in glory for Jesus. God would sooner set aside grandeur for glory for the sake of his servants. Jesus would much sooner see his servants blessed than stressed. Jesus would set aside the best for himself, so we could receive the best.
When we love someone like Jesus loves, we want what is best for those we love. We are blessed to sacrifice ourselves to see those we love happy and having their hearts desires. But as good seed sown comes a good harvest, God will not let our blessing others not flow back to us but many times greater.
This year our grandchildren had their first season of playing baseball. I tried to instill within them the idea that we play because of the love of the game. Too many future Hall of Fame players never made it out of Little League before the love of the game was robbed from them by the win at all cost pressure. Parents and coaches yell and scream when the umpire makes a questionable call or someone make a bad play. This past week our granddaughter Lauren had the last game of her first year of softball. She and one of her best friends had a wonderful season of playing together. They are both Christians and last year in fourth grade they started praying for other kids at recess. Their Christ-likeness was carried over on the ball field. Their last game was for the city championship. As you can imagine all the parents were keeping score even though they hadn’t all year long. All the mom’s were on the edge of their seats, but for Lauren and her friend it was just another game. As the game went on Lauren’s happiness and encouragement for others even won over the coach on the other team. Lauren’s friend had to put out one of her friends on the other team and she yelled across the field, “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you!” I was blessed by her thoughtfulness for her friends feelings even if no one else was. The girls were playing for the love of the game in a Christ-like way. They won the game and got a medal, but greater than that they won the approval of Jesus.
My wife Beckie just came down to the man cave where I am working, and told me about two friends of ours Jim and Barbara. Barbara was having a having a difficult time sleeping so she went out on the couch to rest for awhile. When she woke up she went back to the bedroom and Jim was gone. The bed was made and all the doors were locked. She thought, “Lord, did I miss the rapture?” Then she found him on the back porch reading. When she asked him how he got out there, he told her that he didn’t want to wake her, so he climbed out the bedroom window. That not only made me smile, but it made my heart happy to hear of such Christ-like love. That is certainly putting others before ourselves. In the eyes of Jesus this is what being great in his kingdom is all about. John stepped down so that Jesus could be blessed! Jesus left his throne in Glory so we could be bless!
I once heard an illustration of what heaven will be like. A man died and as he stood before Jesus, he asked Jesus what Heaven and hell was like. Patiently Jesus took the man to hell where everyone was sitting a great banquet with a wonderful meal set before everyone, but when they went to eat no one could enjoy it because their silverware was much too large to get the food in their mouth, and everyone was furious. Next Jesus took the man to heaven, and to the man’s surprise the setting was exactly the same. The food was excellent, but the silverware was still much too large. After the bless and giving Jesus thanks for the food, everyone began feeding the people in from of them. Everyone had plenty and were happy. Let’s create a little heaven on earth by loving others enough to put them first!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to be like Jesus, and put others before ourselves. Please increase our love for Jesus and others. We ask this in Jesus name.
