The smallest child, but also the oldest person, have one great preciousness in them – life. This preciousness is our value and we value it more than a full wallet or possessions. However, human life can be not only a gift for another, but also a burden. Do you think it is a sign if someone told us: You are just a burden, a pest, a bug for me?! But a lesson flows from these ugly words: Life is beautiful when we love another person who is not a burden, but a gift and enrichment for our life.
Jesus, like us, had this great value – life. He could plan to build a house, start a family, and think about his fame and status. But he didn’t want to live like this. He dedicated his life and strength to love. He said it himself: Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Jesus knew very well that each of us was at risk in some way. A pupil so that he does not fail, a student so that he is not thrown out of an exam, a worker so that they are satisfied with him at work, an old person so that his health still serves him somehow… We all desire to progress in life, but we, believers, have to realize that the most important step for us is a life in which God rules. But none of us can do it alone. Why?
Jesus came into the world because we were threatened. And because he loves everyone, he gives his life for them as a ransom to advance to the next life. Our worth is in the life of Jesus. Isn’t it wonderful? God values man so much that he sends his Son into the world to reward man with his life, death, and resurrection. A person can get into communion with God only under the condition that his life will be marked with excellence in love, and the best teacher of love is Jesus, who gives us the strength to not be a burden to others, but a gift, which is nothing new. After all, let’s judge for ourselves: Don’t we appreciate the most when someone likes us? And won’t the reverse also apply? The other person will not appreciate when we come to them with goodness in our hearts? A person is beautiful in that he knows how to love, and he is miserable in that he can be a pest.
The writer Kuznetsov very wisely describes this fact in the Legend of the River. The men in the room are talking about love. Peter asks his friend: Listen, is it true that a man should live with a woman all his life and infidelity is a sin? And the friend replied: You know, the life of love is given only to true people. We were once in the steppe and my acquaintance shot a male swan. Here, where she married, there she married, the female flew in, screeching, flapping her wings, hovering over us and making raids on us. We also shot at her, but we could not hit her. Night came, and we plucked the male, roasted it, and ate it. But we could still hear the flapping of wings and screeching. It died down in the morning and we thought she had flown away. When we got out, we saw her again. We could see it flying higher and higher, then it folded its huge wings and fell to the ground like a stone. We were frozen. One of us was a Kazakh who, seeing this, said that swans when they meet, are faithful to each other for life. Peter responded to that: Am I supposed to jump off the tower when my wife dies? A friend corrected him: You misunderstood me. You know, someone just plays for love, exhausts himself with nonsense, and shouts that family is a prejudice and there is no love. However, a person must live life to the fullest so that everything in him is great. If love, then love, if friendship, then friendship, if joy, then joy, if pain, then pain. That’s how happy people live, who don’t get bogged down in trifles and don’t live only for themselves. Happiness is a storm, a struggle, the sun in the heart, which is enough for you and others.
Could we imagine Jesus living as a parasite? He voluntarily renounced his life when he saw the threat to the human race, which consisted of the fact that none of the people could get into communion with the heavenly Father, so he gave the most valuable thing he had – his life. He sacrificed it for us, his friends. Perhaps the question comes to mind: But what about the enemies? Jesus has no enemies. Everyone, young or old, healthy or sick, believer or non-believer, is personally close to him. He showed this during his earthly life when he showed love to everyone. However, it is also true that not everyone showed him love. Therefore, it is up to us how we will treat him – as friends or enemies, as those who need him or mock him. He treats everyone the same – as friends.
The apostle John, who lived his life in love, recounts an amazing experience: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. If we can love another, if we are able not to live like a living creature, we come from God and know God’s life. We are great at that, and no one can blame us for being limited, that we will have a good time only after death. It’s not true! Whoever loves God loves always, in life, in death, and after death. How do I love? How much selfishness is there in my life? Am I not one of those who take advantage of those closest to them? Can I sacrifice myself for others? The Lord would grant that people respect us because we come to him with goodness in our hearts.
