With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
Making the sign of the cross, I say,
O God, I am marked by your name. May all who see me today know that you are my God and give glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
I invite my Lord,
Jesus, you are the bread of life. I’m hungry for something more, but nothing satisfies. I come to you empty and in need. You said, “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger; whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” All I want is you. (John 6:35)
Confession
My God, why am I jealous of others when they have what I want? I compare and compete. I treat friends as rivals, neighbors as competitors. I am discontent with my lot in life and desiring of theirs. Free me from rampant selfishness. Forgive my jealous eyes. Inspire in me celebration for my brother and sister. You have given me the best things in my life. I want your best for them. No rivalry or conceit, only love.
Word: John 15:9-10
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
Meditation
Where are you having a hard time loving the people around you?
Maybe someone got in the way of something you want and you’ve lashed out. Maybe your kids aren’t making decisions the way you think they should and you’re growing resentful. Maybe your spouse isn’t giving you what you think you deserve and you’ve become cold.
Run a book search on Amazon for “loving others” and you’ll get over 41,000 results, almost all of them self-help books offering techniques on loving people better. This certainly tells us we have a problem on our hands, but it also tells us the answer isn’t a simple one. This becomes especially problematic in light of this passage: Jesus is commanding us to love others as he has loved us. Right. Let’s get on that one.
We can try to “get better” at loving people. We place an emphasis on ourselves, on tips and techniques to help us work at it. This inevitably leads to frustration, because not one in 41,000 ever fully works. And honestly, this is the death we must die. Rather than empower us, Jesus’ command kills—who can love this way?
Thanks be to God, that’s not the end of the story. When our loveless propensities have done their number on us, God is faithful to raise us to new life through His own, one-way love in Jesus: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” Jesus loves us the way the Father loves him! The same love that raises Jesus from the dead is what raises us from our dead lovelessness, day after day. Hearing this good news takes our eyes off our successes and failures in the love department, and places them on the One who loves us perfectly. Only when we rest in God’s perfect love for us will we begin to know what loving others even means.
Prayer for Neighbors
- For my immediate geographical neighbors.
- For my community, neighborhood, town/city.
- For people hurting from broken families, addiction, violence, abuse, poverty, sickness.
- For the eyes of the Good Samaritan, to see and help my neighbor in need.
- For old neighbors and longtime friends; for an opportunity to meet new neighbors.
- For the strength to “love my enemies,” and to “love my neighbor as myself.”
- For the courage to be salt and light to those around me, bearing unique witness to God’s presence.
Prayer
O God, I live among people hungering for something more. Satisfy them with your life and love. The lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” You told a story about a Samaritan who gave selflessly to a stranger. Who isn’t my neighbor? Help me to live like this, in Jesus name. Amen.