The Price Of Love

When Valentine’s Day rolled around on Feb 14, no one expected to receive the devastating news of a school shooting. On that fateful day, a teenage gunman entered the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 innocent people. At the same time that someone was exchanging Valentine heart candy, someone’s heart had just stopped beating.

As this tragedy unfolded, stories began to emerge about heroic deeds of sacrificial love. 15-year-old Anthony Borges was shot five times while saving the lives of at least 20 other students. Geography teacher Scott Beigel, herded students into a locked classroom to avoid the gunman, and paid for that brave act with his life. Assistant coach, Aaron Feis ran toward the gunfire and jumped between a student and the shooter. He then pushed her through a doorway before being fatally shot.

These heroes showed us that love has a price and they paid for it with their own blood.

The concept of love has varied meaning in today’s culture. Some view it merely as a feeling that quickly melts into the dull reality of life. But as we know, love is far greater than any feeling. When I think of love, I see an elderly person talking care of their dying spouse because of the vow “In sickness and in health”. I see a parent who never gives up on a rebellious child who has walked out of the family. I see a pastor agonizing in prayer for his desperate congregation.

I see a loving Saviour who stretched out arms of forgiveness and paid the ultimate price of love.

How could God pay such a price for people like us? Our humanity is so flawed and imperfect that we could never become like him. Oh, but the good news is that we are justified by his blood! That word justified in the Greek means:

To render us innocent and to set us free, our Lord paid a price infinitely greater than we could ever imagine. The question now demands to be answered, what price am I willing to pay in my love for Him? Think about it. People make sacrifices all the time for things that they love. Olympic athletes speak of waking up sore every morning, yet they push their bodies to the breaking point for the love of winning a gold medal. Our love for Christ should be so deep that it costs us something.

I’m reminded of a little boy and his sister. The girl desperately needed a blood transfusion in order to live. Her brother was a perfect match for the transfusion, so the doctor asked the boy if he would be willing to donate his blood. The little boy went pale and thought about it for a moment, then solemnly said, Yes . As the doctor inserted the needle and began to draw blood, the boy’s lip began to quiver as he tried to be brave. “Doctor, how long will it be until I die?” The doctor then realized that the boy thought that by giving blood, he would have to die for his sister. Yet he will willing to pay the price of loving his sister.