Sacrificial Love

‘How is faith expressed through love?’ I asked myself this question as I sat at the counter with a cup of coffee and my Bible opened to Galatians in front of me. Galatians 5 was stirring deep, penetrating straight to my soul. The very first words of the chapter are, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Wow. I could have sat with that verse, repeating it in my heart for the rest of my life and would never have tired.  I kept reading and came to verse 6, one that I have read before with much joy and fondness. This time however, it caused me to think, to pull apart and dissect each of its words. For the first time, I saw the verse’s depth and meaning, not simply the melody and beauty of its language. The second half of the verse reads, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” At this point, I could not move on. God has just told me the only thing that counts in life! After pulling it apart a bit and reflecting and meditating on these words, I believe this is what the verse means for us: The only thing that matters is believing and trusting in God, so that we are free to live and express a sacrificial lifestyle.

Let’s backtrack a bit and look at the context. Right before this verse, the Apostle Paul argues that the Galatian people have fallen away from grace, and that they are still trying to follow the law to be saved, especially in regards to circumcision. The first part of verse 6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.” He is clearly making the statement that goes against what many of their actions has been eluding to. Now here comes the clincher, the second part, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Upon reading this, my first thought was, ‘the only thing’? That seems really extreme and a bit exclusive. Now when asked what someone needs to have or do to be saved, I think most Christians would robotically respond with something like this, “Nothing, you just need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.” That might be our verbal response, but what do our actions say? Do we truly live as if the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love?

When coming upon words that we say or hear a lot like “faith” and “love”, I like to write my own definition of them, or put a different word in their place just to make sure that I grasp their meaning. So for “faith”, I replaced it with “belief” or “trust”, and for “love”, I replaced it with “sacrifice”. This is where I begin to see more of what God wanted to communicate to me in this verse. As far as our salvation and where we stand with God, the only thing we need is faith. However, He does not stop there. He goes on to say that it is faith that expresses itself through love, through sacrifice. The Bible says that “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The word “sacrifice” may not be as glamorous-sounding as “love”, but they really have the same meaning when referring to God’s love and who He is. And I believe that God wants us to be full of this same type of love for others.

The amazing thing is, when we have faith, real faith in God, this type of love doesn't feel like sacrifice. We always think of a sacrifice as being something we reluctantly give up. I think when we step into the freedom that God has purchased for us and truly place all of our trust in Him, sacrificing becomes second nature and a way of life. Please don’t think of sacrifice as giving up all good things in life to just be miserable in the name of God. No, that isn't what God wants us to do at all, and I think some have heard the term “sacrifice for God” and have taken it that way. I think it’s more of an active obedience to His will, sacrificing ourselves and fleshly desires for His, so that real love can be embodied in us and toward others. Jesus said, ”No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded" (John 10:18). Jesus is the perfect example of trusting God completely and sacrificed exactly as His Father had commanded Him, voluntarily.

What does expressing our faith sacrificially mean for us today? With family, friends, co-workers, strangers? I think the world is dying to see the kind of faith that expresses itself through love. The kind of faith that produces love that can only be sacrificial.  Let us continue to trust God completely – that way we can live in the free manner that we were meant to – in sacrificial love.