Laying Down Our Lives..guest post from my husband

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John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Howdy all... this is Commodore, the husband, filling in for Bonnie so she can have a day off. So sit a spell and heed these words...

The entire 15th chapter in John means a lot to me because it helped me to understand my place in the world: obeying His commandments thru love, strength, wisdom, and power. Right this minute as I'm writing this, I'm listening to the soundtrack from the new Batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises because it embodies and inspires some of what I have to talk about. In the storyline, Batman/Bruce Wayne gives of himself in order to save Gotham City from destruction. In the recent events, a gunman opened fire on the audience of the same movie. All were needlessly hurt or killed, but even in that chaos, men acted out that same level of sacrifice like is shown in the movie and in this verse. They deliberately shielded those they cared for with their very bodies. Simply put, they laid down their lives for their friends.

In our streets, every hour of every day, men and women put their lives on the line as police, fire, rescue, EMTs, nurses, doctors, guards, garbage handlers, bio-hazard response, you name it. In streets around the world, more men and women give their lives in the Army and Marines, or in other places like the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

In even other places, more men and women give their lives so the Word of GOD can be heard where the enemy doesn't want it. These folks are in places like China, countries whose names are difficult to pronounce, and sometimes even right next door to you here in the U.S. of A.

So many times, as a young man, I thought that it was considered an honor to die protecting my family and friends. I thought of how it would be heroic, like all the stories we're told. But as I got older, reality began to slip into my little world. In time, I began to discover that dying was the easy part. It's living for them that is more difficult. That daily struggle to be there for all the little things that happen. To be a shoulder of strength when a son feels heartache about a girl, to hold your sick daughter's hair out of the way when she's being sick into a trashcan at 3 in the morning. Real strength takes doing what's right for the kids even when you feel that your ex isn't on the same page as you. Real strength means not treating her evil no matter what is burning you at the time.

I used to think that laying down my life meant only dying, but I was wrong. It also means giving up of things for yourself so they can have something. Like Mr. Spock the Vulcan said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Sometimes that means that Dad doesn't do whatever it was he was considering and instead uses those resources to benefit his family, friends, and Christ's church.

We hear constantly about people who are giving up things: whole families living in the street, people without food, or adequate clothes, or shelter. They gave them up because they couldn't afford them with the little money the did have. Does that mean we should sell everything to meet all these needs? I won't unless it's God telling me to do so, and even then, I'm gonna be absolutely sure of 110% that it really is Him before I do it.

So what can we do? Every little thing you can think of. Even if it's donating some money each month to the local food bank, we each have something where we can lay it down for those around us and we need to do so now, before it really is too late.

Would I use my body as a shield for my family and friends? Yes I would without hesitation and have done so on numerous occasions in the past. Is that enough? No: until Christ returns, we must keep giving and working and living and loving because we are His hands and feet to the lost and dying world.

So I don't care if you're a volunteer somewhere or giving to charity, or a missionary who gives it all, there is still one that that you must never give up: HOPE. For with hope, you can make sparks to ignite love, courage, strength, creativity, and life. Here are a few quotes about not loosing hope...

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.  - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.  - Josh Billings

Fall seven times, stand up eight.  - Japanese Proverb

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.  - Newt Gingrich

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.  - Walter Elliott

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.  - Buddhist Saying

If you are going through hell, keep going.  - Winston Churchill

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.  - Thomas Edison

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.  - Albert Einstein

Psalm 31:24 ESV "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!"

1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Romans 12:12 ESV "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

Ephesians 4:26-32 ESV "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Philippians 1:6 ESV "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."


I couldn't have said it better myself... So there you have it folks. Pray for each other constantly and keep doing the good work in His name.

Linked at The Better Mom, Time Warp Wife, Growing Home, True Aim Education, We Are That Family, Women Living Well, lowercase letters, Passionate and Creative Homemaking, Consider the Lilies, Raising Homemakers & The Wellspring