Brothers and sisters, you are worth dying for.

I recently heard a man talking about how much he loved his children, and among other points he made, he was able to say without hesitation or irony that he would die for them.

That made me stop and think about such sacrificial love. I think many parents would share that father’s sentiment. And, apart from those among us who are utterly self-absorbed and hard-hearted, most people would say there is at least one other person they would be willing to die for: a spouse, a dear friend, a treasured member of their extended family. To a greater extent, there are those who serve in military or other special capacities who might readily say they would be willing to die for their country or a particular people group and cause.

But to find a human being on earth who would honestly say, “I would readily lay down my life for anyone and everyone around me — even, and especially, my worst enemy!”…? I defy any reader to show me such a person in our midst.

And I would argue there has never been such a person to walk the earth — that is, none but Jesus.

Even if we had the heart to make that claim, we would not have the capacity, on our own, to love like that and make such a sacrifice. And, on our own, we could also never (even) have the heart to want to love like that and make such a sacrifice. We are so fallen and so limited. Only Jesus has (and can have) such a heart naturally.

Yet, the beauty of it is, through His love and His sacrifice, we were all seen by Him as worth dying for…and when His love changes and shapes the hearts of those who follow Him, we start to see circumstances and other people differently. We start to pause after someone has hurt or offended us and remember that He thought they were worth dying for too.

Our perception of our worth rightly aligns. And our perception of their worth rightly aligns. And while we may not still readily feel like we would (physically) die in the place of that other person if we had the chance to, we may start to sense some of our offendedness, defensiveness, or bitterness towards the other person fade away.

Children who are raised by sacrificially-loving parents may not grow up to behave likewise. But if they have sacrificially-loving parents or other community members as an example, they will be far more likely to love like that when they are adults. Likewise, as Christ thought toward and loved us, while we were yet enemies of God, so too should we follow His example: to remember that we were worth dying for in His eyes and that is how much He has loved the whole world.

Below, I will leave you with a jotted poem draft from three years ago, and will encourage you again in conclusion….

Be who you are. Live today as one worth dying for.