“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1Jn3:16)
That’s another 3:16 for us to consider.
At first glance it sounds impossible. All through our lives we really took care of this flesh–gave it a three course meal each day, and what not! Wow! How much we love this body of ours! The fact of the matter is: we love this body of ours precisely because we took so much care of it.
However, when we understand and realize that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” and that “this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1Cor15:50, 53)…the value that is normally associated with this flesh drastically diminishes. And as Christians, who have a real assurance and hope of the after-life, laying down our lives for our brethren just like Jesus did, indeed becomes lite and easy (Matt11:30).