Sacrifice and Friendship

I have called you friends . . . —John 15:15

We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if . . . !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . . .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friends. . . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

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結實累累的友誼

我乃稱你們為朋友。 （約十五15）

除非我們完全的投上，否則不能真正體會獻上的喜樂。自我的降服是最難的事－－[如果……我就肯了！ ][或許我也該把生命奉獻給神。 ]其中是沒有絲毫捨己的喜樂。待我們真的完全捨棄了，聖靈就叫我們嚐到主耶穌的喜樂。捨己的最終目標是為[朋友]（主耶穌）捨命。聖靈一來，最大的心願就是為耶穌捨命；以往捨己的意念從不會觸動我們的心，因為捨己是聖靈的愛。

主捨己的一生是我們的榜樣－－[我的神，我樂意照你的旨意行。 ]主的捨己是滿有喜樂的。我已經完全降服耶穌基督了嗎？耶穌基督若不是我們的目標，我們的捨己奉獻就毫無益處；我們的奉獻若是專注在他身上，那模造的工夫就必逐漸明朗地顯明。

當心別讓天然的親屬關係，阻礙你行在愛中。扼殺愛最殘酷的方法，是蔑視天然親屬的關係。聖徒唯一的吸引是主耶穌自己。對神的愛並非情感用事，因為聖徒以神的愛去愛，是最實際不過的事。 [我乃稱你們為朋友。 ]這友誼的根基是我們裡面新造的生命。這新生命只與神的生命相連，與舊生命沒有半點關係，是無可言喻的謙和，沒有玷污的潔淨，絕對忠於神。