“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”
John 15:9, KJV
In His teaching about the vine and the branches, Jesus invites His disciples to remain in His love. He speaks of keeping His commandments, sharing His joy, and loving one another as He has loved them. This is a love to live within—and a love that shapes how we live. Read John 15:1–12.
As the Father hath loved me.
Let the tenderness of that sentence settle over the heart. Jesus begins with the love He has received from the Father, and then opens His words toward His disciples: so have I loved you.
We can become so occupied with what we hope to do for Him that we scarcely pause to receive His love. Even good work can fill the whole room of our attention.
Here, in the middle of His teaching, there is room to stop. To hear Him. To let His words reach the places that have grown tired from measuring, comparing, and trying to be enough.
Remaining in His love is not an escape from the people around us. It changes the way we return to them. A gentler answer. An apology without an excuse. A quiet act of care that no one needs to notice.
His invitation reaches into ordinary life. At the kitchen table. During the unfinished conversation. In the small moment when we can listen instead of hurry.
Jesus, let Your love become more than a truth I hurry past. Teach me to dwell here, and let what I receive from You become love I freely give.
Abba Father,
Thank You for the love revealed in Your Son. I want to receive His words slowly today.
Where I have made service a way of proving my worth, bring me back to the simplicity of loving You. Let my obedience grow from trust, and make my heart willing when Your Word asks something of me.
Help me welcome the people before me with patience. Give me grace to listen, courage to make things right, and tenderness where I have become guarded.
Let the joy Jesus spoke of take root beneath the noise of this day. May the work of my hands flow from a heart that remains near Him.
In Yeshua’s bountiful name, Amen.
My Stone of Remembrance: I will receive His love and let it shape the love I give.