Remembered in Love 

John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Every last Monday of May, the United States pauses to remember men and women who wore the nation’s uniform and never returned. Cemeteries fill with flags, families gather around photographs, and the country celebrates the freedoms purchased at “the last full measure of devotion.” Scripture affirms such remembrance. Jesus’ words to His disciples frame sacrificial service as the pinnacle of earthly love. While our military personnel’s deaths do not ransom souls as Christ’s cross does, their sacrifice carries an echo of God’s self-giving heart. 

Romans 13 teaches that legitimate civil authority is God’s servant for our good. When warriors answer that call, they become instruments of common-grace protection, standing between aggressors and the vulnerable, restraining evil so that churches may worship and children may grow. Their courage, whether shown land, air, or sea, testifies to virtues that Christians prize, duty, honor, steadfast love of neighbor. Wisdom bids us to not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in our hand to do it (Proverbs 3:27). Today we do well to remember that the fallen acted on that command at full measure. 

On Memorial Day we lift both flag and grief to the King of kings, confessing that every liberty ultimately points beyond the Constitution to the gospel liberty Christ secured. Remembering the brave dead should kindle fresh resolve to live sacrificially for the living, our family, fellow church members, and our neighbors. Let’s also be encouraged to even love, like the Lord Jesus, our enemy, and do so until Christ returns and ends all wars forever. 

Act today: Visit or virtually locate a gravesite of a fallen service member. Pray by name for their family, then write a note or send a message to a veteran you know, thanking them and asking how you can serve them this week.