Devotion
Do You Love Me?
Frances Taylor
In today's gospel passage, Jesus tells his followers that those who love him will keep his word. We know that his word is to love others as Jesus has loved us.
Love is an interesting word. This past week, our Bible study group spent four days reflecting on the Scripture sayings concerning love, the definition of love in the dictionary, the importance of love, and how we can walk in the way of love. It's not always easy. We have heard more than once that love is a choice we make, an act of the will, not of the emotions. We are to love our families, friends, our God, but also our enemies. How do you love your enemies? When Jesus laid down his life for us, he didn't qualify the gift. In fact, he reminded the Pharisees that he came to save sinners. Of course, that includes us even if we don't want to think about it! Just because we are the ones in church doesn't make us perfect by any means.
Jesus also promises us that he is sending us help so that we can learn to love better – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, who is that bond of love between the Father and the Son from all eternity. I'm sure that I have quoted verses from St. Paul before, but if you really want to challenge yourself, reread his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13 – all the verses! – and then use this as a checklist to see how well you are doing. I know I can think of a few verses that I need to work on, what about you?
Prayer
Lord, you know that I love you, but like Peter, I have been weak and have failed. You have forgiven me and now I need your help to show my love in a better way by being more loving in my actions with others. Show me the way. Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
