Half way...

20 days done, 20 left to do.  Here are a few questions to help us review our Love 40 days journey so far and consider what is to come.

 

How has it been going? 

 

What have you found the easiest to do as you seek to love one another?  What have you found the hardest?  Have you found it easier to serve someone through an act of appreciation or kindness, or easier to pray for them?  Is it easier to love people we don't know and may never meet again, or to love those closest to us?

 

How do you think you have changed so far?  How would you like to change in the next 20 days?

 

What Bible verse or inspiration that you have found here has challenged or encouraged you the most?

 

Please feel free to use these questions as a personal review - or feel free to share anything you have found in the comments below.  It would also be great if anyone would like to post encouragements for their fellow Love 40 days journeyers - to keep us all seeking to live a life filled with love following the example of Christ...

Day 20: Mindwash...

There are many versions of word association games - where you have to say the first word you think of when you hear another word.  When you started Love 40 days I wonder what word you would have thought of when you heard the word love?  I wonder what you would think now, half way through.  Is it different?  Has this journey changed your thinking about love at all?  If it has, it would be great to hear how in the comments below...

Our thinking about love should be changing.  From our old thinking - which could include a foucs on romantic love, selfish love, love that is given in order that we might receive, love about our feelings - to the thinking that is shaped by the Word of God.  We can review what the Word of God says about love by revisiting any of the previous posts from the past 19 days.  It says this in Romans 12:2 - Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Today, let us pray that God continues to transform our thinking about love, and as our thoughts become more godly, that our serving is more Spirit-led and our loving more effective.  For His glory.

For the kids:
It says this in Romans 12:2 - Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  What do you think this means?  What behaviour and customs do you think it would be better not to copy?  What sort of thinking do you think that God wants to give us and how can we find God's wisdom?  Pray together that God would change the way we think - from the youngest to the oldest.  Just think how amazing the mind of a toddler, preschooler, school-child can be when their thoughts are transformed by God!

Day 19: Mirror, mirror...

One of our goals as we seek to Love 40 days, is to live a life of love, following the example of Christ (Ephesians 5:2).  Since we know that we cannot love in the way that we have been reading about without God's help, we want to love in a way that shows something of Jesus to those we know.  We want our loving to reflect Jesus to those around us.

To encourage you today, as you seek to love like this, here is part of the prayer of St. Patrick.  Maybe a couple of lines will stick in your mind as a meditation for you today:

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ on the deck,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

For the kids:
Read the prayer above together and talk about what it might mean for us.  Obviously we don't have chariots these days, so for children who don't know what these are, you could choose a different vehicle!  You could encourage younger children to draw pictures to show some of the lines of the prayer to help them think about what it means for them to have Jesus as such a central part of their lives.  Or you could spend time looking in a mirror and talking about what we see when we look at ourselves and what we want others to see - and how we might show them Jesus as we try to love others today.

Day 18: Motive check...

How is your Love 40 days journey going?  As we are nearly half way through our 40 day challenge, it is time for a little motive check...

It may seem silly to think that trying to obey Jesus' commandment to love others could be a temptation to us, but it is easy to slip into pride, self-righteousness and thinking that we can do great things by ourselves.  Are we really trying to serve the person we are loving today purely to show them love, or is there part of us that enjoys feeling good about ourselves and wants to draw attention to our good deeds?  If we are being really honest with ourselves, there may well be part of that...

And so today, let's use these words from Philippians 2:3-4 to help us stay pure of heart as we love others...

 

Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

 

If we ask Him, God will give us humility and help us withstand any temptation to think or ourselves before we think of others during this period, and Jesus is the greatest example of being humble and serving others that we could ever find.  Allow the Holy Spirit to work in you as you love today and know that God is with you as you seek to obey His word.

 

For the kids:

Have you been enjoying loving others for Love 40 days so far?  It is sometimes easy to enjoy doing loving things for others because we know they will be really pleased with us and maybe give us something back, or because we know they will think we are really good and praise us.  But this is not why we love and we have to be careful to remember that we are loving others because we want to be like Jesus and for our friends to come to know Jesus too.  God knows that it is easy for us to get confused and so He made sure there are verses to help us with every situation - including this one - in the Bible.  In Philippians 2:3-4 it says: Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too.  Ask God to help you remember this today as you plan your Love 40 days activity so that you are loving without thinking of what it might do for you.

Day 17: Take my life...

As we start a new week and following on from some of last week's readings, take time today to listen to the Hillsong track Arms Open Wide by clicking here.  You can use the lyrics below as your personal prayer for your Love 40 days journey this week - as we seek to give our lives completely to God, He is able to use us to love His people in His way.

Take my life I lay it down
At the cross where I am found
All I have I give to You oh God
Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity
That I may walk in all You have for me

Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine

Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I takeBe ever only for You oh God

My whole life is Yours
I give it all
Surrendered to Your Name
And forever I will pray
Have Your way
Have Your way

You may have other songs or scriptures that you use as you seek to surrender to God - please do share them in the comments below to encourage everyone else.

For the kids:
Use the song above or another family favourite one that speaks about giving our lives to God as part of a family worship time.  You may want to lie quietly together with your arms wide open as in the lyrics and listen to the music, or write any words down that are significant to you.  You could even try to think of a symbolic action to help you such as writing your names on paper and placing them inside the Bible - to represent you agreeing to try to put your lives in God's hand and live according to His word.

Day 16: Remain...

It is likely that you will have read this passage many times before, but there will always be something new to see within it.  There is so much to take from these words of Jesus about love, our commitment to Jesus, our obedience to His commands, His expectations of us and the promises He makes to us.

Maybe you can find something new to think or pray about from this passage today in your Love 40 days journey...  If you find anything particularly speaking to you, please do share it in the comments below!

I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love.  When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandments and remain in his love.  I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!  This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I haved loved you.  There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves.  Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.  You didn't choose me.  I chose you.  I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.  This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17)

For the kids:
There are so many parts of this passage that you could look at.  Maybe read the whole thing through twice together and see what stands out to the children and talk about that, or if they are younger pick a shorter part of the passage and read that together and talk about what they understand from the words.  Talk about what Jesus is telling us about love and what He wants us to do.

Day 15: All or Nothing...

A seemingly simple post today - just a graphic to look at, from Francis Chan:



Putting the words into action, however, may not be so simple!  Yet this is what we are seeking to do with Love 40 days - to help us all to be devoted followers of Christ: to live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. (Ephesians 5:2).

God wants all of us today.  It may not be easy for us to give it all to Him.  But just think what He can do through you today if you give Him your all...

For the kids:
Look at the graphic together and talk a little about what it might mean to give God our all.  You might find it helpful to consider scenarios where you can do this.  Pray a simple prayer of surrender to God along the lines of: "Dear Lord, I choose to give you my all today.  Please take me and use me and help me to keep giving myself to you.  Please let me hear your voice and help me to follow you in everything.  Please help me love you with everything and love others with everything you give to me.  Amen"