Resource Details

Love REACHES ACROSS BARRIERS

Now Jesus had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar . . . Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"  John 4:4–7 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN:

Love LEADS WITH DIGNITY

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:46–48 (NLT)

ACTION PLAN: This week, go out of your way to treat others around you with dignity. It is easy to be so wrapped up in ourselves that we forget to acknowledge the people around us. Choose two outings into public this week to find someone to smile at, start a conversation with, or even a warm "thank you".

Love FINDS A POINT OF COMMON GROUND

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"  . . . The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
    "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?"
. . . Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
    The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
    He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
   "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." John 4:7–18 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN: If you have someone in your life with different views than you, make time this week to sit with them or call them on the phone. Don't try to win them to your side or prove them wrong, but take the time to understand them and find something that brings you together. Work hard to see their humanity, not their ideology.

Love DOES NOT CONDEMN

"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
 "Woman," Jesus replied, "Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem . . . Yet, a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

    The woman said, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
   Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." John 4:19–26 (NIV)

ACTION PLAN: Our go-to response can often be to assume the worst in others. Spend time in prayer this week, asking the Lord to reveal to you who you have assumed the worst. Pray that He would soften your heart toward that person and give you greater compassion for them. God has the power to change our perspective towards others if we let Him.