MONDAY John 15:8-17
As background for today’s reading, recall that John 13 described a very awkward moment. In Jesus’ day, hosts usually had a slave wash the guests’ hot, tired feet. With no slave at the Last Supper, no disciple chose to lower himself to do a slave’s work for all the others. Then Jesus—their leader, their Lord—did it! So Jesus’ words—“love each other”—were a direct challenge. They had to stop seeing each other as rivals, and start living as a true community, a team, in order to carry on his work.
• Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you … I give you these commandments so that you can love each other” (verses 14,17). How has taking Jesus as the best model of what love looks like changed or deepened your understanding of what it means to love? In what situations have you had to make tough choices as you asked yourself, “What’s the most loving thing to do?”
TUESDAY Hebrews 10:19-25
It was tough to be a Christian in the first-century Roman Empire. Hebrews 12:4 said it hadn’t been as
tough for the readers as for some others: “In your struggle against sin, you haven’t resisted yet to the point of shedding blood.” To stay spiritually on track, they needed each other’s support and strength: “Don’t stop meeting together … encourage each other.”
• Passages like Romans 15:14 and 1 Thessalonians 5:14 also describe the members of the Christian community encouraging, teaching and supporting one another. In first century Christianity, fellowship with other believers was imperative to survive in a hostile, pagan world. What factors in today’s world create a desire in you to seek out fellow Christians? Since isolation is one huge issue in our society, how successful have you been in connecting with others at your church?
WEDNESDAY Jude 1:3-4, 17-22
Jude 3’s phrase “fight for the faith” might sound military, with overtones of “destroy the false teachers.” But in Greek it’s an Olympic word, a form of the one found in 1 Timothy 4:7, which said “Train yourself for a holy life.” In verses 20-22, it’s clear Jude was calling on the believers to work together, as a team, to protect and build up their faith. Their “weapons” (what they were to train in) were God’s love, mutual encouragement and mercy.
• In verse 19, Jude said that the result of the false teachers’ activity was that they “create divisions.” Then he urged his team to “build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep each other in the love of God.” When have you been part of a group of believers who functioned that way? How can you encourage others to build that same kind of powerful connection with each other?
THURSDAY Romans 14:10-19
Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, addressed specific challenges they had with living out love in their faith community. They were struggling with judging each other and dividing into factions over differences about just what a good Christian should and shouldn’t eat. Paul raised their sights—God’s kingdom, he said, is about “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” With that focus, they could stop sniping at one another.
• “Let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up.” (verse 19.) What attitudes and actions bring peace and build up other members of your church “team”? Which of them are practically second nature for you? In which do you want to grow stronger, with the Holy Spirit’s help?
FRIDAY 1 Corinthians 12:1-1
Paul didn’t expressly use athletic words in these verses, but they come only three chapters after his great “games” metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. It’s hard to believe he didn’t have that image in the back of his mind as he wrote this vivid picture of “the body of Christ,” in which each different part played a vital role. There aren’t “good” and “bad” sets of abilities and gifts. Each of us can fill a place that makes the overall body stronger.
• Pastor Kenneth Chafin wrote, “We see all around us in the world the principle of which Paul speaks. We go to an athletic event where there are several players on one team. While they have different positions to play and differing skills, that very fact is the source of their unity and the thing that makes it possible for them to play the game. The same is true when we go to the symphony. There is a great variety of instruments played and skills required, but all the different instruments and musicians create a musical unity as they give a concert.” What “parts” are you equipped to play for God as a member of “the body of Christ”? Are you “in the game” using those skills?
SATURDAY Galatians 5:25 – 6:4
In Galatians 5:26, Paul said, “Let’s not become arrogant, make each other angry, or be jealous of each other,” three attitudes any coach knows would tear a team apart. Instead, he said, “with a spirit of gentleness” help each other all along the way. Be the best teammates, and the best team, that you can possibly be—for God.
• Scholar N. T. Wright said, “The church is meant to work like a first-rate team. Every member should care for everyone else. Paul has just sketched out what life should be like if people are lining up with the spirit; now he applies this to the church’s own inner life … You want to fulfill the law, do you? Very well: but let it be the law of the Messiah! … the ‘law’ in question here is the law of giving oneself in love and humility to serve others. This, rather than showy behavior which highlights one or two individuals, will be the sign that they are really ‘spiritual’.” When has Christ become more “real” to you because someone in your church family helped carry your burdens? When has Christ empowered you with his gentleness to help carry another’s burden?