DEVOTIONALS
Devotional 1
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”—1st John 3:18
You’ve probably heard the expression “actions speak louder than words” before. The concept behind this saying is that people will believe and understand better the point we’re trying to get across if we give them an example and show them what we mean instead of just talk about it. There is a whole lot of truth to that statement too; actions prove themselves, while words have to be tested to see if they will really hold up to their claim. So it is not surprising that the Bible wants us to love with actions and truth rather than words or tongue.
But how can we do that? What actions show our love, and what does it mean to love in truth? Loving in truth simply refers to showing our love through honesty, sincerity, and doing “the right thing”. It means loving with our whole heart and showing that love through the things we do. So, instead of saying that we love God, let’s show Him by doing what He says. Let’s show Him by praising Him and serving Him. The same goes with our family and friends and neighbors: rather than saying how much we care for them, let’s do something special that will show them that our we really do care for them…that we really do love them. It can be as simple as picking some flowers for the older lady who lives down the street, or giving your mom a hug, or watching the movie that your friend really wants to see instead of the one that you want to see. Love takes sacrifice sometimes, and words don’t sacrifice…but actions do. Of course, that doesn’t mean that words aren’t important and can’t carry their own weight. Words do have a lot of power, but the most powerful words are the ones that are backed up by actions to prove their genuinity.
-HK
Devotional 2
“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” –Proverbs 10:12
How powerful is love? And while we’re at it, how powerful is hatred? The two seem to be extremely intense emotions, with little room for any indecision. Often placed at opposite ends of the spectrum, love and hate are really very closely entwined. Both show that a person cares—for how can you love if you don’t care? And how can you hate if the person or situation doesn’t matter to you? Along the same lines, quite a bit is entailed in the process of loving and hating—neither come right away (most of the time, that is), and neither back down without a reason. Both have the power to rule over us and dictate the way we act and feel.
Even still, love and hate produce very different results. As the verse above states, “hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” Hatred brings about problems, builds walls between people, and causes bitterness and hurt. Love solves problems and forgives when pain is caused, breaks down walls and comforts each other, and causes joy and peacefulness. In the same situation, hate will thrive and grow on harshness, but love will smother the harshness with gentleness and bring about healing.
So which do you want ruling your life: love or hatred? They’re both powerful and have seemingly endless capabilities. Both can change your life, and both can put out the flame held by the other. But in the end, hatred will destroy you (it always does) and your relationships with other people, and love will sustain you because it comes from God. Still, the choice is yours to make in every situation. Do you want to give hate a chance to grow, or do you want to nourish love instead? Just remember the power they both hold and the strings that may be attached.
-HK
Devotional 3
“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” –Luke 17:15
Ten lepers asked Jesus for healing; ten lepers were cleansed. Only one leper came back to say thanks.
Why do you suppose that was? Jesus saw fit to cleanse all ten lepers. They all had faith enough to ask for healing, and He sent them all to be checked by the priest to see if they were “clean” enough to live again in society. As they traveled to see the priest, they all began to notice that the patches of leprosy were disappearing from their skin. I’m sure they were all ecstatic. They probably jumped for joy and hollered about how they were going to live normal lives again. They were cleansed--healed! Who wouldn’t be overjoyed at that news?? And while all the others hurried to find the priest who would welcome them back into the city as cleansed men, one lone man turned around and headed in the other direction. He had more important business to take care of--something more pressing than gaining his freedom to enter the city gates again.
I can’t help but wonder about those other nine lepers. Why didn’t they turn back to say thank you to the man who had given them a second chance at life? When they reached the priest, what happened? Was their leprosy cured for good? Did they ever think again about the man whose spoken word brought them cleansing? We don’t know; the Bible says nothing more about the nine lepers. But it does say something else about the one who went back to thank Jesus for the cleansing. We’re told that he threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him, praising Him with a loud voice. And Jesus asked him, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Then Jesus told him to rise and go with His blessings. He said, “Your faith has made you whole.” You see, nine lepers were cleansed, but one leper was made whole. He was made completely well; he was forgiven and cleansed on the inside, rather than just the outside. He was given a new life, not just the chance to return to an old life as the other nine had settled for. And I wonder, how many lepers today continue on their way, settling for a mere cleansing and the opportunity to live the life they once lived rather than turn back and be made whole and be given abundant life?
-HK
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