This Devotional series which is part of the Clayton Church Value-Based Discipleship series, which was launched on Sunday 23 July 2017. This passage is another cross-over, this time with my Memory Verse.

Passage: John 13:31-35

When he had gone out, Jesus said,

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you. “Where I am going you cannot come.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

 

Scripture

The words of Jesus clearly stand out as the key stand-out of this passage, particularly verse 34 which outlines his commandment to love one another. Just as it was preached in the Sunday sermon of the day before, the emphasis on getting a diverse group of the 12 disciples to practice loving one another was indeed a radical teaching. The last part is particularly important – when we love one another, it shows, and the world will know that we follow Jesus.

My Words

Retelling the story for someone else (you – my audience):

When Judas had left, Jesus emphasised his unity and identity as being part of the Godhead; that glorifying one would glorify the other. Friends, your identity is no longer just Jews, but so much more – you are children of God – one family, one body under Him. When I die, resurrect and then ascend to heaven, this path is for me alone to pursue according to the will of God the Father. This I do for you alone. Focus instead of on that future, but on the here and now, on loving one another. If you follow this/my commandment to love one another, the world will see the fruit of this action and recognise me working in your life – as the God who first loved you and showed you how to love.

What I Discovered

Two key lessons were previously discerned from my Memory Verse write-up:

1. By loving one another, we represent and show Jesus to the world. Associated previous with the parable of the Good Samaritan, the focus was on who my neighbour is, and who shall be the focus of God’s love that we each have within us
2. The second revelation was the nature of love itself – as an action that we have to knowingly pursue.

Added to these previous revelations, as at now, the end of July 2017, some 2+ years later (March 2015 was when the above discernment was made), I add the following:

1. The call to love is universal, and cross-cultural. The need to love the unlovable, those hard to love, is equally important.
2. In the context of the second week of the Values Based Discipleship, in order to love effectively, you need to gather and be a part of a community of faith – ideally a life group – where there are people to receive love and also to love you back in return.
3. When we all obey the commandment to love, we all give and receive love. Importantly, because everyone is on the same page, there is no expectation for receiving love, but we all freely love one another and receive it back equally.

Obedience Step “I Will”

I will continue to love all those in my life group, family and church community, so that the world may know that I am a follower of Jesus.

Today’s devotion is summarised in the single design graphic above, which have been added to my Threadless Artist Shop under the collection Discipleship Devotionals.