Jesus shows us the meaning of life.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
We find our lives only when we give them away. The more we try to get and hold the less we have that really matters. The more of our time, talent, and treasure that we are able to put in the altar the more meaning and fulfillment we discover.
Giving our lives away does not imply that we remain advantaged people giving our favor to those who are less than us. It does not imply superiority. Rather our love seeks to lift those others up to sit on the same level on which we ourselves sit. They then join us in spreading the love of God.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
This kind of love is the secret of bearing fruit that lasts. It is love that is ready to forget any imagined superiority and to lift others up just as we are first lifted to sit in heavenly places. This kind of love allows a devote Jew like Paul to love Gentiles without insisting on distinctions that don't really matter.
It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us
not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,
namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols,
from blood, from meats of strangled animals,
and from unlawful marriage.
Of course doctrine is important. The law of the LORD gives joy to the soul. The commandments are not burdensome. But we stand based on grace so the law is no point of pride for us. It is not intended to be a distinction between us and those we love. We are meant to grow together in the love which Jesus shows us. We give our lives away and lift others up with us so that all artificial distinctions give way to the unity of the Spirit.
I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O LORD,
I will chant your praise among the nations.
For your mercy towers to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
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