What does your life consist of? When Christ says, “I came that my people may have life, and have it abundantly,” is this the life we are hoping in? This life that came about through his death. This life that makes us more like him now and will transform us into exactly like him in the end. Or is our life wrapped up in something of this world—even if it’s good things; things which aren’t evil in and of themselves. It could be work or family or hobbies or socializing with friends. What consumes you and what are you known for? This can be discerned by asking: What do we spend our time doing and thinking about and talking about and filling our mind with? Those are crucial assessments, for Christ demands that those who say they believe in him, must love him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. And notice what that love produces according to our Scripture reading text in 2 Cor. 5—a life lived for him and not for ourselves. But what does this look like to live for him?
It’s living for others—1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. To have the life of Christ is to have a life lived for the benefit of others, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).