Uttermost Love In Ordinary Moments

Ordinary sink, holy love in motion

Devotional Credit
Open Windows, T. Austin-Sparks

Photo Credit
Unsplash

Love is easy to talk about, and hard to practice when someone has crossed a line or worn us out. T. Austin-Sparks points us to Jesus who loved His friends to the uttermost, not as a sentiment, but as a basin and towel kind of love. He knew their weaknesses. He moved toward them anyway. That is the shape of real love.

Paul’s words in Romans 12 call us out of pretending. Do not stage affection. Let the real thing flow, the kind that honors another person and seeks their good. That is not a human upgrade. That is the living Jesus expressing His life through those who belong to Him.

This is where the life of abiding in Christ matters. The Spirit has taken up residence within us, so the love of God is already poured out in our hearts. We are not trying to crank up compassion. We are learning to yield to the One who loves better than we do, and who lives within us to do what we cannot do on our own.

Thank you, T. Austin-Sparks, for reminding us that the Lord’s love does not step back when we fail. It steps in. Because He has united us with Himself, He now shares that same love through us in kitchens, offices, waiting rooms, and church parking lots. Real places. Real people. Real love.

Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am in you, and I am love. I set My heart on you when you were still weak. I reconciled you to the Father through the obedience and self-giving of Jesus, and I brought you into one body where you now belong. I poured the love of God into your heart. I made you new, not improved, new. I joined you to the Lord so that His life is your life.

Let love be genuine in you. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. Honor one another above yourselves. I am the One who bears all things in you, who seeks the good of the other through you, who keeps no record of wrongs as you walk in the truth. I empower you to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I enable you to forgive as the Lord forgave you. Over all these virtues I weave love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Remain in Me. Apart from Me you can do nothing. In Me you will bear much fruit. My fruit in you is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This is not your project. This is My presence. Present your body to God as one alive from the dead. Walk by Me and you will not gratify the flesh. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. As I loved you to the end in Jesus, I now move you toward others with the same steadfast love.

When you meet a brother or sister whose rough edges once irritated you, remember that you are members of one another. I broke down the dividing wall and made peace by the blood of the cross. You are a chosen people, a holy temple where I dwell. Let the peace of the Messiah rule in your heart, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Scripture references: Romans 5:5, Romans 5:6 to 11, Romans 6:1 to 14, Romans 8:9 to 11, Romans 12:9 to 13, 1 Corinthians 12:12 to 27, 1 Corinthians 13:1 to 13, 2 Corinthians 5:17 to 21, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:16 to 25, Ephesians 2:14 to 22, Ephesians 4:1 to 3, Ephesians 4:32, Ephesians 5:1 to 2, Philippians 2:1 to 8, Colossians 3:12 to 15, John 13:1 to 17, John 15:1 to 12, John 17:20 to 23, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:9 to 10, 2 Thessalonians 3:5, Jude 21.

Real-Life Analogy
Think of a sink full of dishes after dinner. The stack is not glamorous. It is sticky and ordinary. You slip on a pair of gloves, turn on the water, and the flow loosens what you could not scrape off by effort alone. In the same way, the indwelling Spirit of Jesus is the flow within the believer. He moves through you toward the person in front of you, softening what is hardened, lifting what is stuck, and doing in minutes what striving could not do in hours. Your part is to put your hands under the stream, not to manufacture the water.

A simple practice for today. When you are tempted to withdraw or to trade sarcasm for kindness, pause and entrust the moment to the Lord within you. Say, Lord, I yield this conversation to You, live Your love in me toward this person right now. Then honor them with a quiet word, a patient tone, or a small act that seeks their good. Let Jesus carry the weight while you walk in step with Him.

Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that Your love has already been poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit. Thank You that Jesus loved me to the uttermost and now lives in me to love others in real ways. I agree with You that I am new in Him, alive to God, and part of one body. I rest in Your presence, I welcome Your peace to rule my heart, and I rejoice that Your love is more than enough for the people You place in my path today. Amen.