The famous cyclist Gino Bartali used his bicycle to free persecuted people. A committed Christian, he wanted to act against Mussolini’s fascists and the German Nazis during the Second World War. He’d ride to a church known as San Damiano in Assisi, where he’d take his bike inside, remove the seat and fill the tubes with false identity papers. Then he’d deliver these to the persecuted Jewish people living around Florence and in the Tuscan hills. Gino Bartali risked his life so that others might live.
Bartali took his inspiration from Jesus, who died to give life to others. Writing to the church at Rome, the apostle Paul spoke of Christ’s sacrifice: “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). What a gift, that Jesus would die for those seeped in wrongdoing! Paul observed that very rarely would anyone die even for a righteous person (v. 7). Then how much rarer is the sacrifice of a perfect person for sinners!
We may not need to put our lives on the line, but with God’s love, help and strength, we too can act sacrificially. Whether stopping to help someone in need, giving financially, providing a safe space for a displaced person, or simply by listening, we can show Christ’s love for others through our actions. Who might God inspire you to help today?
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
How does it feel to know that Jesus died for you even though you’ve done wrong? How can you spread the love of Jesus through your actions today?
Sacrificial Jesus, thank You for paying the ultimate price on the cross, that I have the assurance of life with You forever. Help me to share Your love.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Romans 1–3, Paul begins his letter by showing that those who reject Jesus are enemies of God and objects of His wrath (1:18; 2:5; 3:23). Then he shares the good news of God’s salvation through Christ: “God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin” (3:24–25 NLT). In Romans 5 , Paul affirms God’s lavish love for us. First, we know how much He loves us “because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (5:5 NLT). Second, while we were still God’s enemies (vv. 6–10), He showed His great love by giving us His only Son to be “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10) and making us “friends of God” (Romans 5:11 NLT).
K. T. Sim
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