By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
—1 John 3:16
Self-sacrifice is of the very essence of true love. The very nature and blessedness of love consists in forgetting self, and seeking happiness in the loved one. Where there is a need in the beloved, love is impelled to offer up its own happiness for that of the other.
Who can say whether or not this is one of the secrets that eternity will reveal: that sin was permitted because otherwise God’s love could never have been so fully revealed? The highest glory of God’s love was manifested in the self-sacrifice of Christ. It is the highest glory of the Christian to be like his Lord in this. Without entire self-sacrifice, the new command, the command of love, cannot be fulfilled. Without entire self-sacrifice, we cannot love as Jesus loved. “Be imitators of God,” said the apostle, “…and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us” (Ephesians 5:1–2 nkjv).
It was this love that made His sacrifice acceptable in God’s sight, a sweet-smelling savor. As His love exhibited itself in self-sacrifice, let your love prove itself to be conformable to His in the daily self-sacrifice for the welfare of others.
Even in the daily affairs of home life, in the conversations between husband and wife, Christ’s self-sacrifice must be the rule of our walk. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
Especially notice the words of this text, “Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2 nkjv). Wesee that self-sacrifice has two sides. Christ’s self-sacrifice had a Godward as well as a manward aspect. It was for us, but it was to God, that He offered Himself as a sacrifice. In all our self-sacrifice, there must be these two sides in union, though the one may be more prominent than the other. It is only when we sacrifice ourselves to Godthat we will find the power for an entire self-sacrifice.