Day 30 – Love one another
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
The best way to love You, Lord
Is to love others
Let us see You in all the people we meet
And remember that You died for our sins
And theirs as well
Let us love them
As You love them
(Silence)
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Heart
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, You make us instruments of your love in this world.
Teach us to be tuned in to the needs of every person You consider to be our neighbour: family, friends, contacts and colleagues, and also strangers.
May we be your hands and feet, willing to share the love we receive from You. Amen.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us – 1 John 4:12.
As believers and witnesses of God, it is our task to talk about God, but also to make God visible to other people in their lives. Even though no one has seen God as God truly is, who God is becomes visible when we truly love one another. God is love, and therefore we show the world who God is when we love each other.
For 30 days now we have looked through the lense of the New Testament how we can practically live out our love towards one another. We should be humble and forgiving. We should serve one another and encourage one another to live according to our faith. We should be considerate of one another. We should show our community what it means to be touched by God’s love by how we sing, worship and serve. We should truly see the needs of others and practically care for them.
In the end, every act of love we do is a reaction to what Jesus did for us. When we do acts of love for one another and others, we are glorifying God’s Name. May we do this together in the time ahead.
Father, thank you for your love. Thank you that we receive so much love from You that we can share it with others. Let them see and experience You in our acts of love. Amen.
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
What, do we say, is love?
What does love look like? In other words, what, do we say, is love?
Get a piece of paper and write down how you will describe love. Here’s a few words if you get stuck: unconditional, forgiving, merciful, healing. And how can you help others to love better? Do you think there is a good example that truly shows us what love really is? Jesus was a living example of what love looks like. How would you describe Jesus’ love? What does love look like practically in the world we live in? Look at how Jesus acted and then do what He did.
In the first letter of John we read, “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” What does this mean for the way in which we live in our homes? Love is a choice, a decision that you make. It is not just a good feeling in your gut, for that you can also experience when you eat chocolate.
Let’s choose today to love one another and to show it clearly with our acts of love.
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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We often hear that God lives in our hearts. This is a strange picture because God doesn’t have a house in our hearts. How does God live there then? It is actually very simple. God’s love is in us and in this way God is part of our lives. Because God is part of all aspects of our lives, everything we do should show this truth. Jesus reminds us that love is a verb, a “do” word.
In the past 30 days we spoke about love and caring for one another. I wonder why Jesus reminds us so often to love one another and to care for each other. What do you think?
Learn 1 John 4:12 from heart and even add movements.
Activity
On pieces of paper, write down a few acts of love that you can do in the next few days of lockdown. Put everything in a jar. Take one out every evening and do that act of love the next day for one another.
Decorate a mirror in your home with hearts. You can cut the hearts out of scrap paper or use a whiteboard pen to draw hearts on the mirror. Every time you look in the mirror you can remind yourself that God’s love is in you.
Picture this
– What is your God image? In other words, what or who is God to you? Father, Mother, Friend, Guide, Teacher, Nature, Ocean … What symbolises God to you?
– What does God look like in other people?
– 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.
Bedtime story
Bedtime story by storyteller Ewald van Rensburg