Acts 7:54-8:3
Few of us dreamed of being a martyr growing up because we could not grasp laying our life down for anyone else. It was beyond our ability to love anyone more than ourselves. Even as adults, we don’t dream of being a martyr. I don’t think Stephen dreamed of being a martyr, but he was willing to be because he loved God above all else.
As I said last week, we can refuse to participate in God’s plan, which means we can refuse to even try to be like Jesus. But Stephen shows us that we cannot use the excuse of being human as our reason for not being like our Savior. No, we don’t act like Jesus because we love ourselves more.
Stephen loved God above all else, but he also loved others more than he loved himself. He loved the Jewish leaders and people more than he loved himself. Jesus said in John 15:13 that the greatest love we can show is to lay down our lives for our friends. The Sanhedrin were not friends of Stephen, but Stephen was a friend of Jesus. He put his love for Jesus, his desire to follow his Savior above anything else ahead of everything else. Even his own life.
Stephen gave his life for Jesus because he gave himself to the Holy Spirit.