Thursday: How Friendship Displays the Gospel
Read: John 13:35, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
SOAP: John 13:35
Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.
Devotion:
We witness to the world with more than our words. Our words are important: we need to share the gospel with a weary world by telling them the truth. Jesus did more than that. He lived His life in a way that invited people to follow Him. He created a community of people that lived such different lives that others were confused, intrigued, and sometimes angry. As we carry a strange and radical message into the world, we can show the world its true meaning by displaying love for one another.
We have been commissioned by God to reconcile relationships. In a world corrupted by sin, self-sacrificial love is uncommon. Our individual relationships with one another, our churches, our small groups and Bible studies, our communities—all these relationships can attest to the power of the gospel. We are not capable, on our own, of the kind of love that will show people we are Jesus’ disciples. With the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, though, we can show the world a type of relationship they have never seen before.
Prayer:
God, work in me! Make me more like Your Son, someone who showed overwhelming love to the world. Help me have the kind of love for my brothers and sisters that will show them who You are. Amen.