Skip to main content

Devotional for April 9, 2020

Loving Like Jesus

 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV)

 The night He was betrayed, Jesus gave His disciples two commands: the first was to continue to celebrate the Last Supper, to remember how He broke His body and shed His blood as a sacrifice to achieve our forgiveness of sins on the cross. The second was for us to love each other as He loves us.

 In these days, the command to love each other is needed more than ever. Many of us remain physically separated from our families, friends, and neighbors, because of stay-at-home orders. We feel isolated and alone, which is an incredibly painful feeling. Without physical presence, it is hard for us to experience love. For those who, for whatever reason, already feel isolated and alone to begin with, this is especially painful. Those who already feel isolated and alone within their own families and neighborhoods especially feel this pain.

 This means that Jesus' command for us to love each other as He loves us is more needed than ever. Jesus' love for us is powerful: He loves each of us unconditionally, and accepts us just as we are. He loved each of us before we even heard of Him or loved Him back. He even loves those who do not love Him or believe in Him. He loved us so much He was willing to be God reaching out to us. Jesus did not hesitate to reach out to us; in fact, He even became one of us, a human being, to make God fully accessible to us, and to prove to us that God is always with us, is close to us, is involved with us, and is actively present with us all the time. And, as the greatest expression and proof of His love, He died on the cross to save us from sin and death, then rose again to achieve eternal life for us.

 Therefore, to help relieve the pain and loneliness of the isolation caused by the pandemic, Jesus' love is the best and most effective remedy. just as Jesus loves us, we show love to each other. As Jesus reached out to us, we reach out to each other. As Jesus is actively present with us, we are actively present with each other. As Jesus accepts us, we accept each other. We can reach out to each other through phone calls, texts, social media messaging, letters, cards, and many other ways. We can be actively present with each other by being available and listening, especially when anyone is hurting or suffering. We can accept each other by recognizing that each of us is valuable in God's sight, just as we ourselves are valuable in God's sight. Jesus loves us and is with each of us, powerfully present with us, in the midst of our loneliness and isolation. We can help each other experience His powerful love and presence by showing His love and being present with each other.

 Dear Jesus, help me to love others as you love me. In your Name, Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Devotional for April 21, 2020

We Are His Sanctuary " And  in  him  you  too are being built together to become a dwelling  in  which God  lives  by his Spirit." (Ephesians 2:22 NIV) Every week, as the children of the church I serve gather together for devotions, activity, and singing, one of their favorite songs they request frequently is "Sanctuary," which goes: Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary Pure and holy, tried and true With thanksgiving, I'll be a living Sanctuary for you The words for the song are never more true than now. Even though we cannot worship together in the sanctuaries of our church buildings, God is still with us. He is not limited or confined to one building, or one particular time of day: He is everywhere, present at any time. He loves us and always wants to be with us. This means that whenever and wherever we gather together for worship, whether in our homes, outdoors, or anywhere else, He is with us. Jesus also promises that wherever ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Devotional for March 29, 2020

Still In His Good Hands "The earth is the  Lord ’s,  and everything in it,  the world, and all who live in it." (Psalm 24:1 NIV) A certain insurance company frequently asks in its ads, "Are you in good hands?" And frequently we may wonder, with the pandemic seeming to worsen and not even reaching its predicted peak, whether we are in good hands, or whether events are doomed to spiral out of control.  The answer to that question can simply be found in a  popular gospel and camp song, which goes, "He's got the whole world in His hands." Our passage today gives us the promise that all the earth still belongs to God, and remains under His control. He created the earth - but He then did not, as some would imagine, step back and simply watch everything unfold, as a machine. Nor did He simply set natural processes in place, but remains distant and uninvolved Himself. Instead, He continues to remain actively and intimately involved. So much so that He ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Devotional for April 27, 2020

Risen and Always With Us " Mary Magdalene  went to the disciples  with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!' And she told them that he had said these things to her." (John 20:18 NIV) C. Austin Miles was a pharmacist, turned Gospel songwriter, turned editor and manager of a music publishing company, turned part-time photographer. It was one day while waiting for some film to develop of pictures he had taken that he picked up his Bible, which had fallen to the floor. The passage it happened to be open to when it had fallen was John 20, which told about Mary Magdalene's visit to the garden at the tomb where Jesus had been buried, and her encountering Him fully alive. As C. Austin Miles read that passage, words started flowing easily to him: "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on mine ear, the Son of God discloses And He walks with me, and He talks with me And He tells me I am His own; And the joy w...
Post a Comment
Read more