When I think of heroic movies, especially American movies you can’t help but see an individual or group willing to lay aside everything in order to preserve the people they care about.  The premise being that love is courageous enough to sacrifice whatever it takes to salvage a relationship, the earth, an animal, etc.

We obviously acknowledge that premise as Christians, and can relate that to Jesus’ sacrifice to preserve us for eternity!  But have you thought as a recipient of Christ’s love, the kind of love He expects in return?  In Jesus leaving His home of glory in heaven, to come down and be among us sinners to prove His love, are we willing to leave our “glory” in order to be with Him? (Philippians 2:5-8)

Our glory is centered around our pride.  The pride we take in being a good parent, spouse, worker, student, child, etc.  Though those things are not bad to be known as and work at.  But it could be the desire to identify with those things, that keep us from proving our love to Jesus, and identifying with Him, and what being “made perfect through suffering” is all about…(Philippians 1:29)

What you realize is that you cannot chase being glorified, while trying to identify with Jesus.  No man can serve two masters, so if our glory is on the line, we will hate Jesus for coming in between that.  This is why Jesus uses such strong language that if “we do not hate, spouse, parent, child, even our own life, we are not worthy of Him”.  Because to not be willing to part ways with what we glory in, we won’t identify with His glory, so there cannot be a real intimate relationship. (Matthew 6:22-24, Luke 14:26)

The question I challenge myself with is whether the love of Christ compels me enough, to “lay down” what would make me the “hero” in a situation?  Though a lot of suffering comes upon us without a decision to be made about it, pushing us to seek God for His comfort.  But what about decisions you can make that you know can either glorify God, which will cause you suffering, or glorify yourself and try and escape suffering?  It is those places we can relate to Jesus and our desire to suffer with Him…(Romans 8:17)

In His Love, Ld