Lenten Daily Devotional 2021
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Day 30: Love One Another
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
The disciples were bewildered, to say the least. Here they were, breaking bread together with Jesus. Then He starts washing their feet. Then He tells them something is going to happen. And then He says that one of their own was going to betray Him. What in the world is going on? They must have wondered.
And then, He gives a new command, not just for them but for us today: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
What does that kind of love look like? It’s the ultimate, unconditional kind of love – the totally selfless, sacrificial love that Jesus showed when He chose to suffer and die that we might live not just on this earth but for all eternity in Heaven.
We’re not Him, and thankfully so. But we’re called to live and love like Him – exhibiting the Christlike qualities in the familiar passage we read in 1 Corinthians 13: A love that is patient and kind, that doesn’t envy or boast; a love that isn’t proud, that doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, that doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in the truth; a love that always protects, hopes and perseveres.
Truth be told, those Christ-like qualities are contrary to our self-centered, sinful human nature. No, we can only love like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit living and working in and with and through us.
Want to love others the way He has loved you? Go to Him, tell Him that, ask Him to use you to love others, and then let His lavishly loving Spirit lead you.
--Mark Vasché
And then, He gives a new command, not just for them but for us today: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
What does that kind of love look like? It’s the ultimate, unconditional kind of love – the totally selfless, sacrificial love that Jesus showed when He chose to suffer and die that we might live not just on this earth but for all eternity in Heaven.
We’re not Him, and thankfully so. But we’re called to live and love like Him – exhibiting the Christlike qualities in the familiar passage we read in 1 Corinthians 13: A love that is patient and kind, that doesn’t envy or boast; a love that isn’t proud, that doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, that doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in the truth; a love that always protects, hopes and perseveres.
Truth be told, those Christ-like qualities are contrary to our self-centered, sinful human nature. No, we can only love like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit living and working in and with and through us.
Want to love others the way He has loved you? Go to Him, tell Him that, ask Him to use you to love others, and then let His lavishly loving Spirit lead you.
--Mark Vasché
Prayer Focus: Pray for the young adults from Centenary Church who are currently serving in the military. Pray for all military personal.
Thought or comment to share?
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Go to Centenary’s Lenten Daily Devotional Group on Facebook.
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