I should be in bed...

I was going to go to bed, but I couldn't help myself. :) So, today in church I was thinking about Christ's statement in John 15:13 -- "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That got me thinking about how we say a martyr gives his life. On the other hand, a suicide takes his life. (If you're picky about my pronoun usage and would prefer some monstrosity like he/she or worse, deal with it. :))

It's pretty clear that giving one's life is an admirable and noble thing, whereas taking one's life is shameful and reproachable. What's the difference? If you're taking your life, who are you taking it from? Yourself? I suppose it depends on the definition of take -- either it could mean it in the sense of stealing or removing to one's own person, or it could mean it in the take/bring sense (bring it with you somewhere). Given the contrast with give one's life, I suspect it's the former, especially because we don't say "take my life to..." as if there's motion involved.

Here's what I'm thinking. When you give your life, it's always for someone or something else -- either another human (saving their life, usually) or God (religious martyrs) or some ideological cause. When you take your life, however, you're not doing it for anyone but yourself -- you're snatching your life away (from God? He has all power, of course, but a suicide disrupts His plan and thus you could call it stealing it from Him) and ending it for you. I guess that's where the good/bad connotations come from -- giving is good and kind and taking is bad and mean. Interesting.