I Love You so Much I Would...

Is it easier to die for someone...or to live for them?


"I love you so much I would die for you" is a sentiment that has been repeatedly echoed throughout time. Dying for someone is seen as the epitome of true, sacrificial love. Even the Bible says it: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends".


Or does it?


Does 'laying down you life' translate exclusively into 'dying'? Dying for someone is definitely an appropriate translation of the term. But laying down your life is so much more than just one action of death. Laying down your life for someone you love is a repeated action.


Every day, every moment is comprised of opportunities to live for you, or to live for someone else. True love lays down its life for the loved one...repeatedly.
Jesus died for people, because He loved them. And yes, He is the example, but... could He have died if He hadn't first lived? Could He have died for the world if He hadn't first lived in such a way that qualified Him for the job, basically, if He hadn't lived a perfect, human life? Jesus' sacrifice didn't begin on the cross. That's not to say that His death was not a sacrifice, because it most definitely was.


But, Christ's sacrifice began on that night in the stable; that night was the first night of laying down His life. Jesus' whole life was a sacrifice, laid down for the world. His death was a necessary part of that sacrifice, but His death would have meant nothing if He hadn't risen from the dead three days later: if He hadn't come back to life.

Although dying for someone does show a depth to love, it is not the ultimate display of love. Continually laying down your life for someone you love is more of a sacrifice than laying it down once. Living every single day of your life, with that person as more important than you, speaks more to the intensity of your love than dying in their place ever will.


So, anyone can die for someone they love.


But, will you live for them?

Quote of the day: {{I have found the paradox that if I love til it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love}} Mother Theresa