Lesson 29 – Our sacrifice: love
Read Hebrews 13 - www.bible.com/bible/59/heb.13.esv

In this, the last chapter of Hebrews, God reminds us again of sacrifices. In Romans 12:1-2 we are asked to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. In these first 7 verses, we see the sacrifice of love.

Brotherly love – this is the love Jesus commanded His disciples to practice in John 13:34, 15:12, and 15:17. We are to love each other as Jesus loved us. This is a love that seeks not our own pleasure or fulfillment, but what is best for the other. We place their needs ahead of our own – see 1 Corinthians 13, and Philippians 2:3

Hospitality – this is showing kindness to those who are strangers, those who are in need. I saw a woman come to the door of a church one day, who had just lost everything she owned in the world when her car caught fire on a busy highway near the church. She was moving, and everything she owned was in the car, destroyed. The church was in a poor neighborhood, but the people gave what they could – one took her to a nearby shelter for a place to stay and also replace clothing, one gave her a purse she’d just purchased, another gave the Bible she carried, another certificates to a local grocery store, and another put her in contact with a friend who had used cars and that man gave her another vehicle. No one person could supply all the needs, but together they sent the woman on her way to family.


Those who are mistreated or in prison – this is helping those who need it even when association with them might damage our social status. A congregation took under their care a man who had been imprisoned for serious sexual offenses, but the members of that church took their time and effort to help restore this man to a place of usefulness to his community through love and encouragement and accountability.

Undefiled marriage bed – in many cultures across the world this has become the least favorite subject anyone wants to address. God calls adultery and fornication sin. Dare we do any less? Remember, God paints pictures of Himself, and the picture He intended a faithful husband and wife to be to the world is a picture of how much He loves all believers and wants them to love Him too.

Love of money – we cannot call this anything other than it is – greed and idolatry. When we are not content with the things God has given us, we place our priorities on those things. That makes those things our new god. God says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). Are you content? This doesn’t mean we can’t make plans for the future, but we do that according to Matthew 6:33 – seeking God’s kingdom first.

 We are given two wonderful promises in these verses. First, God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. And because of this promise we do not need to ever be afraid – after all what can people do to us (see Matthew 10:28). And the second promise is that Jesus is our helper, helping our faith to grow strong.