Devotion – Gather

‘Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:12-13)

When Jesus talks about love, he is not just talking about a feeling of warm affection. According to that understanding, love is an emotion that we can fall in and out of fairly quickly.

We see expressions of this attitude towards love all of the time. Attitudes that say ‘I just don’t love you anymore’ are common, not only in romantic relationships but also in friendships and family relationships. According to the world’s thinking, when we ‘fall out of love’ with someone, we can sever ties and go our own way. After all, we only have one life to live, and our happiness is what matters most.

Have you ever found yourself on the receiving end of this sort of mentality? Perhaps you have celebrated the beginning of a new friendship, only to find that this person now ignores you. In this world of social media, they might even have blatantly ‘unfriended’ you. Perhaps you have experienced this more acutely with a spouse seeking separation or even a non-spousal family member cutting ties. Or maybe you are guilty of having done this sort of thing yourself.

In this reading, Jesus teaches us about real love, or, what he calls, greater love. This sort of love is not based on our emotions. It’s not self-seeking, nor is it fleeting. It is a form of love that is costly. It involves sacrifice. It might even cost us our lives.

Have you ever wondered what you might be willing to suffer and endure for the sake of someone else? In our human weakness, we can miss the mark, and we may fail to show this type of love. But even then, God wants to forgive us and hold us in everlasting love.

Dear Lord, thank you for laying down your life for me. Forgive me for the times I have loved selfishly, and help me to be more like you. Amen.

Prayer Points

We give thanks for our teachers on World Teacher’s Day for the many different gifts they use to bless our community

We give thanks to God for the refreshing spring rains

We pray that all our families and community members remain safe and well

We pray for the Thang Ngak, Thang and Thuale families

Micah Award

To Zin for demonstrating courage and appreciation throughout remote learning.

To Singopha and Rose for demonstrating compassion to others