Memorial Day means the most to those who’ve known someone who died in war.

But it can mean something significant to everyone if we’ll just think about it.

Honoring those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice means we deeply appreciate people who have laid down their lives to protect us from evil. They substituted themselves for us. They died so that we could have liberty.

No greater love

And that’s the greatest love on earth – the sacrificial kind. Jesus Christ, the King and Savior of the world, explained it when He said about Himself, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13 NKJV)

It makes me ask myself and ask you, for whom or what would I die or suffer?

Think about it. Hard work gets good things done. And suffering the flesh is a necessary part of becoming holy.

Remembering just wars

I’m convinced that World War II would not have been won on the side of Right unless the United States of America had chosen to enter it and win it. The cost of liberty was many U.S. soldiers died and many Americans suffered through rationing, hard work, and the loss of sons killed in battle.

But when the war ended, and the soldiers came home, and our nation “got back to normal,” Americans largely ignored the existence of evil on our own soil and in our own hearts. Houses, jobs, TV, pleasures, and labor-saving devices were the new pursuit.

Enslaved by lies

Living out traditional values instead of true Christianity, many parents in the late 1940s and early 50s birthed a new generation, of whom many rebelled in the late 1960s and early 70s. Remember the hippie movement? Lies about sex and drugs and God led millions astray, and gave birth to the harmful culture of moral relativism.

Fast forward to today. More than two generations have passed since we’ve made abortion on demand legal, made divorce easy and “guiltless” in the law, and made the carnal ethic of “if it feels good, do it” the deceiving master of our hearts.

Carnal consequences

Given this spiral down the proverbial toilet, is it so hard to see why America is more godless than godly? Pursuing comfort and avoiding suffering hasn’t taught our culture to love God or love children with His values. No, that was “too hard” and didn’t bring immediate gratification.

So what have been America’s just desserts for rebellion against her true King? Moral ruination of children, a generation that shocks us with new inventions of evil, and a people harming themselves with self-induced diseases and dying sooner than their parents. America is imploding from within.

Spirit over flesh

What’s the answer? The value of suffering is clear. For the Spirit to win, the flesh must be defeated. And for the highest love to be demonstrated, the greatest voluntary sacrifice must be given. Do you grasp it? Now is the time for sacrificial love for the sake of ourselves, our families, and our culture.

Again, for whom or what would you be willing to die or suffer? A correct perspective on true love and cultural renewal would make us, in the face of moral challenges, stop asking “Why me?” and begin asking “Why not me?” With faith in the Gospel and love for people, our willingness to “suffer” to do what’s right will be the beginning of changed minds, leading to changed lives.

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pastor executed by Nazis, in his book, The Cost of Discipleship