The Ancient Word...

Sometimes we endure suffering and hardship in order to benefit others.

For example, Abraham risked his life in battle in order to rescue prisoners of war (see Genesis 14:1-16).

Joseph endured slavery and imprisonment in Egypt in order to save thousands from famine (see Genesis 45:5-8; 50:20).

Ruth left her homeland and her family in order to care for her mother-in-law Naomi (see Ruth 1:8-18).

Jonathan withstood the wrath of his father Saul in order to help his friend David (see 1 Samuel 20).

Barnabus sold his property in order to feed the poor (see Acts 4:32-37).

Paul suffered beatings, shipwrecks, hunger, sleeplessness, endless dangers, and constant worry in order to take the gospel to the nations (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-28).

Jesus said,

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12, NIV)

Some in our communities demonstrate this "greatest love" every day.

For example, police and firefighters put their lives on the line in order to protect citizens and their property.

Doctors and other health care workers expose themselves to contagious diseases in order to care for the sick.

Soldiers and their families -- purposefully and willingly -- endure hardships, loneliness, injury, and death in order to protect the nation.

Parents make many sacrifices for their children, setting aside their own needs and desires in order to build a better life for their offspring (see 2 Corinthians 12:14).

And God Himself, in Christ, also showed this "greatest love" by suffering death on the cross for us:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8; compare 1 John 4:9-11)

... for Today

Marine Corporal Jeffrey B. Starr died in a 2005 firefight in Ramadi, Iraq. He left the following note:

If you are reading this then I have died in Iraq...I don't regret going. Everybody dies but few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq, it's not to me. I'm here helping these people, so that they can live the way we live. Not have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators. To do what they want with their lives. To me that is why I died. Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.

When we love others deeply, it always carries a substantial cost. To protect others or deliver others from oppression sometimes places us directly in the path of harm ourselves. Suffering may be the price of loving.

Of course, when love drives us, we rarely think of the cost as sacrificial. Any suffering on our part -- because of love -- hardly qualifies as heroism. We think of it as privilege. Could we do less? Those looking on may assess it differently, perhaps wondering why we persist when the cost seems so high. But love makes no such measurements.

In 1964 rebels took Helen Roseveare captive during the Congolese uprising. For 5 months she was beaten and mistreated. At one point she cried out to God, "The cost is just too great!" Later, as she recounted the event, she said, "Then it was as though I heard God speak from heaven and say to me, 'All I ask is that I might be able to love these rebels through you.' And suddenly, it was no longer cost, but privilege -- a privilege that the God of the Universe would condescend to minister through me." After her eventual release, she assisted in the rebuilding of the nation.

Discuss...

1. How might the motivation of love change the way you view some of your own suffering at the moment?
   
   
2. Describe some of the "privileges" in your own life right now.

Chris Davis, PhD & David Timms, PhD
Hope International University
Fullerton, California

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