FRIDAY

1 John 3:18

As we come to the end of the week, let’s return again to the Key Verse that we began the week with. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Having now had the opportunity to think more deeply about what it means to live out what we often call the “Golden Rule,” how does this passage speak more richly about living in a way that reflects the love and grace of God? What are some of the ways that genuinely regarding others the way we would wish to be regarded has changed or would change things for you this week?

• What new insights have you gained this week in terms of how you would like to be treated, and how, in fact, God actually does treat us?

• Where are the growing edges for you as you think about what it means not only to love others as we have been loved, but also to treat others as we long to be treated? What are the kinds of things we long to hear? To what extent are we willing to say those things to others?

• How does this passage speak to not only how we relate to each other one-on-one, but also how we are to interact with, and perhaps even advocate for, others on a larger scale? What might that look like for us?

• What questions do you have, or struggle with, when it comes to how we treat others in all dimensions of our lives: God/Me; God/Me/ Others; God/Me/Others/Structures?

• As you think back over your reflections this week, what do you sense God inviting you to consider, more fully embrace, or perhaps is nudging you towards? As you prepare to enter more fully into your Sabbath experience this weekend, take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is on your heart.