Agape Love Sacrifices

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (NLT) 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

John 3:16 (ESV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Galatians 2:20(b)(NLT) 20 . . . It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. . .

Agape love is love that costs the giver everything, with nothing being expected in return. That’s agape love.

Agape love is at the very core of the New Testament, found in the most famous verse in the Bible. John 3, verse 16 says, 16 For God so loved. . .  The word is AGAPAO. It’s the verb form of AGAPE. And so, when we read in English For God so loved the world . . .  It actually doesn’t mean that God loved the world “soooooo much.” It means, “In this way God loved the world . . .” It’s a verb. It’s an action word. God loved the world in this way . . . He so loved the world, that he gave . . . He sacrificed. This is the way God loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This is God’s love. It is sacrificial. It costs God everything. Your salvation bankrupts Heaven. He gave everything with really nothing expected in return. And he sacrificed his Son, so that through our faith, we could have eternal life.

Agape love, the agape love of God, is Jesus Christ living in you. When we say, “Okay, what does it look like when Jesus Christ is living in me?” Well, Paul says in Galatians 2:20 (write this down in your margin there in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13), 20 . . . It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. . .  Guys, agape love is what it looks like when Jesus Christ is living in you and coming out of you.

If you want to know what it looks like to have Jesus Christ living in you, it looks like 1 Corinthians 13 because God IS LOVE. And Jesus Christ living in you will come out of you, bubble up out of you, rush out of you looking like what is described in 1 Corinthians 13.

When your old nature is crucified (that nature that has no agape love and doesn’t have the ability to extend agape love), when that old sin nature is crucified, and the new life of Christ is transforming you into a new creation, agape love is what it looks like. That’s how big Agape is.

Agape love is the supernatural love of God, living through your life to others for the good of others, expecting nothing in return.

Follow with us in your Alone With God journal. You can order yours at: wordbymail.com.

Journal: Carefully consider the above verses in 1 Corinthians, John, and Galatians. Ask God to speak to you through his Word as you meditate on it. Then, apply the scripture to your own life. In the Apply area of your journal, write down what the Holy Spirit is impressing on your heart through these verses. How do they specifically apply to your life, personally? Next, decide what you will do today in acknowledgment of these scriptures. Is it responding in your heart according to God’s Word, or is there something physical you will do? In the Respond section of your journal, write down what you will do with the truth or truths God has revealed to you. Then, in the Pray section, write out your prayer to God. Pour your heart out to him in response to your time with him. Make your commitment to him, praying to align your will with his, and thanking him for speaking to you through his Living Word.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for giving Jesus – your only Son – as the ultimate sacrifice so that through our faith in him, we could live with you for eternity. You are love. Thank you for revealing to us today what love looks like and how you love us completely. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, please help us crucify our old nature and allow the new life of Jesus Christ living in us to transform us, so that your agape love rushes through us to others. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

Dig Deeper: Click this link to watch the entire message from our 1 Corinthians series, titled “Holy Spirit – Agape Love,” or search for that same title at wordbymail.com.