Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for this daily challenge. It’s Thursday, the day we try to apply and live out what we’ve learned this week from the Bible. This week we’ve been studying Jesus and sacrificial love. Yesterday we saw how Jesus taught about this with his words and his actions, most ultimately in his death on the cross, as he sacrificed his life for others.

A few key lines from Tuesday’s reading: If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Jesus makes a great point – that everyone loves something. Even sinners love someone, like their friends and families. Greedy people will love lending money to those who can repay with interest. Lots of love all around – but it’s actually a love for us.

What Jesus advocates is a love for others – a sacrificial giving of one’s possessions, or even their lives, for the benefit of others.

This is the kind of love God has for everyone, the kind of love that Jesus had, and the kind of love we were made for, even if it’s messed up right now.

Jesus’ challenge is for us to love even our enemies; those who we can love without any benefit or credit to ourselves.

This is one of the hardest things in the world – it goes against many of the ways our world is structured and breaks all kinds of social norms. But it’s also one of the best things in the world.

Thankfully, we don’t have to pioneer this, or be perfect. Jesus did, and then gave up that perfect life of love as a gift to us. He invites us now to follow him, and rely on his love to flow through us into others.

Challenge: Who in your life doesn’t deserve any love? What kind of love can you show them? Make a commitment to an accountability partner that you’ll do this.