{"product_id":"commanded-to-love","title":"Commanded To Love","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"border border-gray-200 rounded-lg overflow-hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"px-4 py-3 text-gray-700 leading-relaxed talking-points-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"m-4 bg-white border border-gray-200 rounded-lg shadow-sm\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"px-6 py-4\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"space-y-2\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"border border-gray-200 rounded-lg overflow-hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"px-4 py-3 text-gray-700 leading-relaxed talking-points-content\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe know from this passage that the greatest example of love is self-sacrifice: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (v. 13). Christ embodied this ultimate form of love. We have seen many poignant examples of believers throughout history choose the preservation of the lives of others even at the risk of their own lives. In 1943, a small group of German Christian students called the White Rose Resistance risked and lost their lives for the sake of honoring and loving Christ and their neighbor. The most well-known members of the group are siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were turned in to the Nazi authorities for spreading fliers in the university that exposed the evil of the regime. They were interrogated and charged, and, along with cofounder Christof Probst, beheaded on the same day as their sentencing. They knew that their lives were on the line when they began their resistance project, but when they considered the suffering of the Jewish people and the disabled, they felt that they must act out of love. We can see the spirit of self-sacrifice in this quote from Hans Scholl: “In order to prevent this evil spirit from spreading, we must not win the war.” Hans and Sophie grew up in the Hitler Youth organization, and they could have easily stayed silent and maintained the status quo—but their deep faith in Christ had commanded them to love. In a prayer said by Hans, he addresses the Lord as the source of love: “O God of love, help me to overcome my doubts. I see the Creation, your handiwork, which is good. But I also see man's handiwork, our handiwork, which is cruel, and called destruction and despair, and which always afflicts the innocent. When will the storm move all these unholy people who are defiling your image?” The story of the White Rose and the quotes above can be found in this short documentary on YouTube: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5kuzC8sLYTs\" class=\"text-purple-600 underline\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehttps:\/\/youtu.be\/5kuzC8sLYTs\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ministry Pass","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68069144428860,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0852\/9874\/1564\/files\/brett-jordan-PcAZ3vRCQBQ-unsplash.jpg?v=1793653489","url":"https:\/\/app.ministrypass.com\/products\/commanded-to-love","provider":"Ministry Pass","version":"1.0","type":"link"}