"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."
John 15:13 (NIV)
Nobody warns you how expensive agapē really is. You can admire it from a distance, sing about it on Sunday, and nod when the preacher describes it. But the moment God calls you to actually practice it, the price tag appears. Agapē costs you comfort, convenience, and sometimes your pride. It is the most generous and the most demanding thing God will ever ask of you.
Jesus didn't stumble into the cross. He walked toward it with open eyes. The Greek word tithēmi, behind the phrase "lay down," carries the weight of a deliberate, intentional placement. This was not a feeling that swept Him away or a situation that spiraled out of control. He chose it, planned it, and gave Himself fully before we ever asked. Every act of genuine agapē carries that same intentional weight. You choose it before you feel it.
The greatest virtue is not the easiest one, it is the most expensive. Of faith, hope, and love, Scripture declares the greatest is love, not because it feels the best but because it costs the most and outlasts everything else. Faith trusts God in the dark. Hope holds on for what is coming. But agapē reaches toward another person at personal expense, with no guarantee of return. It is the virtue that most fully reflects a God who, as John 15:13 reminds us, demonstrated the greatest love by laying down His life for us.
God did not love us from a safe distance. Within hours of speaking those words in John 15:13, Jesus would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. The cross was not an accident or a tragedy. It was agapē in its purest and most costly form. He loved us all the way to death so that love like this could live in us. And now He calls us to follow the same road, not to earn anything, but because we have already been given everything.
Where is God asking you to lay something down right now? It may not be your physical life, but it is something real. Your time for a person who drains you. Your comfort for someone who needs you. Your need to be right in a relationship that needs peace more than it needs a winner. Agapē always costs the giver something. If it hasn't cost you anything lately, it may be worth asking whether you have been pursuing it at all.
Godseekers, following the way of love will take you places your flesh does not want to go. It will ask you to give when you are empty, stay when you want to leave, and forgive when the wound is still fresh. But this is the love above all that God demonstrated for you at the cross. He laid everything down so you would have everything you need to do the same. The cost is real. So is the grace that covers it.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You are the God who held nothing back, and we stand in awe of a love that went all the way to the cross for us. Forgive us for the times we have offered You a cheap, comfortable version of agapē that costs us nothing. Show us today where You are calling us to lay something down. Give us the courage to love the way You loved us, deliberately, sacrificially, and without counting the cost. Fill us with Your Spirit so that what flows out of us looks like Jesus. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Personal Reflection
- What is the specific thing God is asking you to lay down right now in order to love someone well, and what has been stopping you?
- In what area of your life have you been offering a comfortable version of agapē that costs you nothing?
Step of Faith
Today, identify one specific sacrifice agapē is asking you to make for someone in your life, and do it before the day is over without telling anyone or expecting anything in return.
