Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
August 11, 2022: SOAP #4634: Jeremiah 7-9; John 13

SCRIPTURE: John (NIV) 13:13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’, and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
John (NIV) 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

OBSERVATION:  In the gathering of Jesus and the disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.  Then He tells them that they should do for each other what He had done for them.  This was not something they were to return to him, but something they were to do to and for each other.  Jesus told them to do “as I have done for you.”

I see His example and instruction as a preface for what He would say a few moments later.  He set a new command for them; they were to love each other as Jesus had loved them!   Jesus said, “As I have loved you.”

APPLICATION: As a follower of Jesus, I must take the command of Jesus seriously.  I must sincerely love my brothers and sisters in Christ the way that Jesus loves me.  I am to follow His example.

It is a command that I cannot do in myself.  It is a call to love with Jesus love.  It is a love that goes beyond Leon love.  But it is His command!  What am I to do? 

I have discovered that Jesus will not command me to do something that He is not willing to do through me.  And so, I let Him love through me.  He pours His love into me; He pours His love through me.  The people of the world take note of how we in the body of Christ love one another. 

PRAYER:  Lord, your love is pure; your love is holy.  Your love is not self-serving, but self-sacrificing.  Love through me, I pray.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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