Love to live for

“Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Regardless of how long you have been a Christian (or even if you aren’t a Christian) chances are you will know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” We are well aware that God loves us, and as a result of that love sent his Son to die for us. But do we let that fact impact our everyday life? Are we living for Christ who died for us, or are we trying to go it our own way in the day to day things, then turning to Christ on a Sunday?
God’s love is not a one-off thing for when we first repent. It is what should influence our every thought and action. We need to kick out every notion of self, and commit to radically living for Christ. Society as a whole is totally focused on pleasing yourself alone – to live for Christ will mean going against the flow.It could mean when shopping for clothes we don’t focus on what is the best label to be seen in, but what is the best use of the money God has given stewardship over (when we get to heaven I’ll hazard a guess that the people who invested their money in charity projects or the like will have more interesting stories to tell than those who invested in Superdry sweats…)It could mean that rather than spending the evening in front of the TV you crack out the Bible and have a read of it.
It could mean that you’ll spend less time with the ‘cool’ crowd, and more time with people who are looked down on. People who need someone to listen to them, to take an interest in them.
Letting the fact that God loved us so much to send his Son to die for us impact every aspect of how we live means there will be things we don’t say, programmes we don’t watch, websites we don’t visit, social events we don’t partake in. Not just because in some cases they may be ‘sinful’, but in other cases purely because it is not the best use of the time God has given us. We need to put our faith first, and let that shape what we do and how we act at all times, instead of just letting it determine what we do on a Sunday morning.
Christ loved us enough to die for us – are you prepared to live for Him in response to that love?