Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 ESV

What is love, and how do you show it? If love is friendship, then you may show it by buying them coffee. If love is family, then you may show it by caring for your grandparents. If love is romance, then you may show it through a love letter.

These are all pieces of love. We see these glimmers and innately know we’ve experienced love. Still, these are just fractions of a greater whole. The whole is God. He is love. So, how does He show love? By giving himself away. In fact, that is the definition of agape (love), self-sacrifice. So what could be the greatest self-sacrifice for God? To give away His own life in the person of Jesus.

That’s what He did. He laid His life down for us. 

If actions reveal love, then God's self-sacrifice reveals the greatest love. That is why we’ve been given the high calling: friends of Jesus (John 15:15). Because of the greatest act of love, we are now in a close relationship with God himself.

Who is love? God. How did he show it? Through nails in His hands and a thorny crown on his head. 

So how do we respond? We embody the sacrificial love of Christ. We take up our own cross. We lay down our own lives. In big ways and small, we partner with the Spirit's invitations of self-sacrifice. It starts with the simple everyday decisions to put Christ and others above ourselves. 

Remember today that love is defined by Jesus.