Daily Laying Down Your Life
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
These words pierced my heart this week in a new way than they ever had before. That’s what I love about the Bible. It’s alive. God is always using it in new ways to refine me.
As I read these words, I thought about how I would lay down my life for my children. Physically if they were in danger, I would do anything to protect them — even if it meant giving my life.
Yet could I say this is true in the day-to-day?
Those mundane moments of being at home wiping counters, floors, noses, and bottoms instead of being out and “free” to do what I want to do when I want to do it. Have I really laid down “that life” that I think I’m missing out on?
What about the laying down of the life you thought you wanted? The one you dreamed about? The feeling of being important and accomplishing something of significance. Even that feeling of angst about all the activities that you feel like you are missing out on?
You need to know that you are important! What you are doing is significant!
No one else can be my hubby’s wife or my children’s mom. That is the unique call God has given to me — & He’s given that same call to you as a wife and mom.
Your day-in & day-out routine may feel meaningless as you clean the fifth spill of the day, deal with tantrums, sibling arguments, or endless piles of dishes and laundry. But it’s not all for nothing!
You are pouring into the lives of your spouse & your children. You are giving them a front row seat to love in action. The daily “laying down of our desires” speaks volumes to your family. Your kids may not understand it now, but they eventually will. It may not even be until they have their own children that they fully grasp how it feels to ache for well-deserved breaks, a chance to travel more, to get to shop alone {heck, to go to the bathroom alone}, — all of the “me-time” everyone else seems to get.
I’ve been laughing for years about the fact that I’m “livin’ the dream!” As a little girl, I dreamt about being a wife and a mommy. Now I watch my little girls act out their mommy dreams with their dolls.
I am doing what I always dreamt of doing! {I just had no clue how hard it would be.}
I feel like every day is a constant laying aside of my life so I can pour out to others. & you know what? That’s okay with me! It hit me somewhere around baby #4 that my life was not about just me. Once I embraced that, I felt the peace wash over me.
I recently saw a video about a man who now cares full-time for his wife of 50 years as she battles Alzheimer’s disease. His words were inspiring as he stated that he considers it a privilege to get to care for her. What a beautiful love story!
The Bible says that there is no greater love than when we lay down our lives for another. Well, some times it’s not about “dying” for someone. It’s more like “dying to ourselves” and putting others first. Seeing the privilege of serving others and expressing our love in action!
Practical Ways to “Lay Down” Our Lives:
- Let go of the “What If’s”! Allowing your mind to speculate too long on the “what if this?” or “what if that?” thoughts will kill your joy! Don’t play the “what if” game!
- Embrace God’s plan & stop fighting it! He is up to something in your life and in your family. Join Him! It may not be glamorous, but it is good — because He is good!
- Choose to have joy & contentment! Charles Swindoll wrote about our attitude being a choice. So, make that choice to be joyful and content right where you are.
Blessings and joy,
Kristi Clover is a follower of God, wife to her high school crush, & mom to five blessings ranging from teens to tots. Aside from her family, she’s also passionate about homeschooling, creating family traditions, & finding new ways to run a more efficient home & school. Not surprisingly, you can usually find her at home trying to bring some order & fun into the mayhem of daily life. Kristi is a down-to-earth writer & energetic speaker who loves to share insights from her wonderful, yet sometimes challenging, experiences of being a homemaker and homeschool mom. Her tips are creative, practical, and help bring back some simplicity in the chaos of life & homeschooling. Kristi blogs about her adventures in wifehood, mommyhood, & the fun to be found in homeschooling at www.raisingclovers.com.
I don’t know you; and we shall never meet, because I’m dying, slowly, of something that’s extraordinarily painful and rather inconvenient. But it is at least something I share with Patrick Swayze, Luciano Pavarotti, and Sally Ride.
I worked as a security contractor…in plain English, a mercenary. I didn’t do it for the money (it sucked). I did it for you. I did it for the innocence and charm that you share in this post; I did it for the Christmas lights reflected in the snow; I did it for the ten o’clock church service. I carried a gun so others could carry a Bible, and that they could feel safe.
I would have died for you, and I still would, because you represent the very,, very best that this world has to offer. YOU, in your candour and your faith, are what makes life worthwhile.
I buried friends, and the parts of friends that I could find. Life is messy; artillery, more so. Honour them by enjoying life to the full, and by being faithful to the God to whose hands I committed the men I commanded, and loved.
Please?