Sunday May 19th, 2019 5th Sunday of Easter John 13:31-35
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." (verse 34)
My hands are shaking as I write this devotion. Yesterday, a colleague informed me that a neighbouring church had removed a woman from their roster because they believed she was not living in accordance to God’s will. A day later, social media is abuzz with people using this case as the reason they have left the church or never want anything to do with it. It is truly sad.
Then I opened my Bible to John 13, which narrates some of what took place the night in which Jesus was betrayed. We see Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, sadly dispatching Judas to do what he was destined to do, then giving his disciples a new commandment: love. As I have loved you, seem to me to be the most important words here.
Jesus’ love was first and foremost a sacrificial love; he gave his life that we might live. His love was an arms-wide-open kind of love. He loved Peter though Peter denied him. He loved the woman who was caught in adultery and by Law, deserved death. His love was forgiving, accepting, unconditional. It draws in; it never expels. If it were otherwise, we’d all be doomed.
Lord Jesus, help me love others as you love me. Amen. — DAB
Contributed by Love one another
My hands are shaking as I write this devotion. Yesterday, a colleague informed me that a neighbouring church had removed a woman from their roster because they believed she was not living in accordance to God's will. A day later, social media is abuzz with people using this case as the reason they have left the church or never want anything to do with it. It is truly sad.
Then I opened my Bible to John 13, which narrates some of what took place the night in which Jesus was betrayed. We see Jesus washing his disciples' feet, sadly dispatching Judas to do what he was destined to do, then giving his disciples a new commandment: love. As I have loved you, seem to me to be the most important words here.
Jesus' love was first and foremost a sacrificial love; he gave his life that we might live. His love was an arms-wide-open kind of love. He loved Peter though Peter denied him. He loved the woman who was caught in adultery and by Law, deserved death. His love was forgiving, accepting, unconditional. It draws in; it never expels. If it were otherwise, we'd all be doomed.
