Monday Morning Devo - SACRIFICIAL LOVE

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8, NKJV

Stories of sacrificial love stir me more than any others. Jesus, of course, personified that aspect of love. We hear stories all the time of heroes who risk their own lives to save others--or give up their own lives for that cause.

I remember many many years ago hearing a newscast of a young lady who was babysitting. The two toddlers had managed to lock themselves in the car and it began to roll down a slope to a lake. The teenage babysitter tried to stop the car and couldn't, and then she went that final extra mile. She put herself in front of a wheel of the car to stop it. 

I've been wondering over the last few days, how does that tie in with Agape' love--you know, the love God has for every last one of us? The love that doesn't require emotion to act?

I've about come to the conclusion that it takes more. I read a story by a cancer center nurse who admired the mothers who spent every available minute by the sides of their children who had cancer--even sleeping on the floor to be next to them. I think about the fathers who neglect friends and other family members to go to a piano recital where they proudly applaud and cheer for their child who plays not exactly like a concert pianist. The mothers who give their own beloved babies, the ones they held next to their hearts for almost a year, up for adoption so that that baby will have a better life. 

Things that tear your heart to shreds. I think that takes Agape'-love plus all the parent-love possible. And that has got to have emotion tied into the mix.

How can we ever equal up to that? I don't think we can, not without a healthy dose of God's help.

Father, You alone may hold the answer to this conundrum. Us? We're only human, but somehow you hand that superhumanity to us when it's most needed. For that, Lord, we give You more praise than we can humanly express. In Jesus's provision, Amen.