21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 8, Monday: “Love One Another”

Daily Devotionals: Ascent’s Mission – Loving God, Loving People and Impacting Our World. Each day’s devotional will guide us through a scriptural thought based on the mission God has called us to follow. 

We have spent a week focusing on the first part of our mission, Loving God. We now turn to the second part of our mission: Loving People.

________________________________________

Engage the Word: Loving People

Read John 15:12-14

Jesus said to His disciples:

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Connect the Heart

In John 15, Jesus is speaking to His disciples in the Upper Room the evening before He went to the cross. He was giving his faithful followers final instructions before his death. And though He had predicted his death multiple times before, they had no idea just how real these words would become to them. He calls them to “love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus was about to live out these very words in just the next few hours – displaying His love for them, and for us, in the most profound way. He is our ultimate example of selfless love.

The literal meaning of the words He uses here – that someone “lay down his life for his friends” – is “to put aside your own happiness or healthiness for the sake of another.” Sacrifice is essential to genuine relationship and love. But when we consider what this really means, it undoubtedly reveals just how difficult this is for us. For naturally self-important and self-focused people like us, what a challenge it is to set aside our personal agenda for a moment and do something that benefits someone else.

 But Jesus literally commands it. In order to truly love God, we must genuinely love others – and consciously cultivate a sacrificial spirit in a way that lays aside our own needs and wants for the sake of another.

Reflect on the Truth

1. What does this passage stir in your heart? As you think about Jesus’ words and Jesus’ example, what do you sense He might be saying to you?
2. Think of a relationship that God has placed before you – it might be in your family, or at work, or at school, or at church… What would it look like to “lay down your life” for this person? In other words to “put aside your own happiness or healthiness” for the sake of this relationship?
3. Take a moment to ask the Father how He might lead you – today – to live out this sacrificial command of Jesus.

Depend on the Spirit

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that these thoughts are pointing to. (For example: you may write down, “Jesus, it seems nearly impossible to live up to your example of laying down your life for me. You literally gave up your very life. Please show me how I can apply this to the relationships you’ve placed before me. Especially the difficult ones.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His word, His Spirit, His people.

__________________________________________

For Prayer
As you conclude your devotional time, pray specifically for someone in your circle of relationships that would be encouraged by a selfless act of sacrifice and love. Pray also for our Ascent Church family as we each seek to selflessly follow Jesus and love one another as He has loved us.

Fasting
Please read the first blog post entitled “Why Fast?” This explains what fasting is and why we follow Jesus in this spiritual discipline as together we seek the heart of God.

________________________________________

 Some parts of our 21 Days devotionals are adapted using various resources on scripture and prayer like The Bible Exposition Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, The New Bible Commentary, Logos Bible Software and other resources.