Dag 25 – Love God and one another
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
We thank You for family and friends who support us
correct us
and love us
people whom You carefully placed in our lives
Let us be people who add value to their lives
(Silence)
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: A bit of soil
Dear God, You take care of even the smallest of animals.
We thank you that we may know that You will also never leave us and never forget about us. Amen.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us – 1 John 3:23.
Many believers try to do what the Bible tells us is impossible. They want to love God but they hate their brothers and sisters in God’s family. According to 1 John 4:20-21 this is impossible. Those who love God will also love their brothers and sisters.
Some of us won’t admit that we sometimes hate our fellow believers. Hate is such a strong word, yet we would easily live as though they are not important to us at all. We cannot say that we love all believers like God expects of us if we live in this way. God doesn’t only expect us to tolerate other people. He asks us to love them according to the commandment that He gave us. Jesus did not ask of us to only love ourselves, but also to love those closest to us. He did not only ask us to live in this way; Jesus showed us through his way of life how to love everyone, even our enemies, with our words and our actions.
Our love for others is not dependent on whether or not they love us. Our love for others is a reaction to the command and example of Jesus.
Lord, thank you for your love as You showed it to us through life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May we show the same love to one another. Amen.
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
Ask: How was your day?
The one thing that is truly dangerous to any relationship is to become indifferent: not caring about what happens, to stop trying or stop fighting for the relationship. The American author Rollo May said, “Hate is not the opposite of love; apathy is.” We can become so used to the lockdown period that we do not notice the strangeness of it anymore. Each person in the house can easily disappear behind their headphones or screens and then we can cross over to a place where we don’t care about what’s happening in our homes anymore. A well-known marriage counsellor once said the most important question you can ask in any relationship is: “How was your day?”
Today is the start of a new week. “Invite” everyone in the home to dinner. Give each person around the table the opportunity to talk about how their day was. Focus on the different emotions they experienced because this isn’t a normal time and we may not even be aware of how we feel or know how to express it. In this way we will be practically living according to Jesus’ command: Love one another.
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
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It’s easy to love people who love you as well, but Jesus asks of us to not just love those who love us. Jesus asks those who believe in Him to love all the people who become part of our lives.
What is the command about love that Jesus gave us?
Tell the others in your home about a time when someone showed you love and you weren’t expecting it.
Activity
Draw a big heart. Decorate it with words, pictures or photos that describe love.
Use your body and see in how many ways you can form a heart. For example, use your thumbs and index fingers to form a heart. Are there any other ways you can do it?
Picture this
Look at today’s illustration. What stands out to you? Talk to the people in your home or with your friends on WhatsApp about the illustration.
– Which meaning do you attach to today’s illustration?
– How does this illustration connect with today’s Scripture, and how not?
– Create your own interpretation of the illustration through any medium: dance, photography, videography, music, poetry, drawing, painting or short stories.
Record it and share it with us on social media with the hashtag #countdowndoodles
Thank you’s and testimonies
Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.
In the previous 21 days it was wonderful for me to look forward to the Word every day. I enjoyed it so much, even though I am alone and have no one to share the activities with. It is wonderful to know that even though we are alone, we never really are because our heavenly Father is always with us. Thank you very much for all the effort and sharing with us. Every day is another lesson to make us better people in Christ Jesus our King!– Alta Coetzee
Bedtime story
Bedtime story by storyteller Ewald van Rensburg