Deepen Your Faith: Weekly Devotionals

Day 1 (Monday): When Your Well Runs Dry

You know you should love them. Scripture is clear. Jesus commanded it. Your pastor preaches it. But when you reach down into your heart looking for the love this person needs, you come up empty. The well is dry.

Scripture: Jeremiah 2:13 Additional reading: John 7:37-38 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”

Here’s what I’ve learned: we were never meant to love from our own supply. God says through Jeremiah that His people “have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” We keep going to our own broken wells—our limited patience, our conditional affection, our performance-based care—and wondering why we keep coming up dry.

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus washed the feet of men who would betray, deny, and abandon Him. He did not love them because of who they were, but because of who he is. He loved them because He is love. That same source is available to us. When we struggle to show love, that’s not failure. It’s an invitation to draw from a deeper well.

Reflect: Where have you been trying to love from your own broken cistern? What would it look like today to stop trying harder and instead ask God to love through you?

Day 2 (Tuesday): Love That Refuses to Quit

Picture Jesus kneeling before Peter with a basin of water. Hours earlier, Peter had rebuked Him for talking about death. In just a few hours, Peter will deny three times that he even knows Jesus. Every reason exists for Jesus to walk past Peter. To let him wash his own feet. To save His energy for disciples who would actually stand by Him.

Instead, Jesus kneels. He serves. He loves.

Scripture: John 13:1 Additional reading: Romans 5:8 – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Scripture tells us that Jesus, “having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end.” Not to the point where they disappointed Him. Not until they messed up one too many times. To the end. His love was continuous. Uninterrupted. Unwavering.

We live in a culture where love is conditional. I’ll love you if you meet my needs. I’ll love you when you start treating me right. I’ll love you as long as you don’t cross certain lines. But Jesus introduces a different standard: love that continues despite failure. Love that doesn’t quit when someone doesn’t deserve it. Love that keeps showing up even when there’s no guarantee of return.

Think about the difficult person in your life. Now consider this: we have been that person to God. We’ve doubted Him like Philip. We’ve sought our own glory like James and John. We’ve denied Him like Peter. And in our own unique ways, we have betrayed Him. And yet His love for us never wavered.

Reflect: How has God continued to love you despite your failures? What would it look like to extend that same continuous love to someone who has disappointed you?

Day 3 (Wednesday): The Surrender That Changes Everything

Jesus knew exactly who He was. He was the Master. The Teacher. God in the flesh. The One who created the water He was pouring, the clay that formed the basin, the feet He was about to wash. Every right belonged to Him. Every privilege. Every honor.

And He laid it all aside.

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-7 Additional reading: John 13:3-5 – “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”

In that culture, foot-washing was the job of the lowest servant in the household. Not just any servant—the youngest, the least experienced, the one at the very bottom. None of the disciples wanted to do it because kneeling before another disciple would mean admitting that person was greater. So they all avoided it, protecting their status and their rights.

Jesus shows us that love surrenders. It lays aside what rightfully belongs to us for someone else’s needs. Sometimes even for someone else’s wrongs. Love says, “My comfort is less important than your need. My rights are less important than your redemption.” This is the great descent of God—from heaven to earth, from deity to servant, from life to death.

We hold onto so much. Our right to be treated fairly. Our right to be appreciated. Our right to comfort and convenience. But what if the person who most needs to see God’s love can only see it when we lay those rights down?

Reflect: What right are you holding onto that God might be asking you to surrender for someone else’s sake? What would it cost you to lay it down?

Day 4 (Thursday): Truth Wrapped in Love

Truett Cathy picked up the phone and called Shane Windmeyer. Their views on marriage couldn’t have been more different. Cathy was the founder of Chick-fil-A, known for his Christian values. Windmeyer was the founder of Campus Pride. Windmeyer expected confrontation. Maybe even condemnation.

Instead, he experienced something that changed his perspective on what it means to follow Jesus.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:15 Additional reading: John 13:8 – “Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.'”

Jesus didn’t ignore truth. When Peter tried to refuse His service, Jesus confronted his pride directly. When He told His disciples one of them would betray Him, He spoke truth they needed to hear. But He did it in love. The confrontation came wrapped in service. The hard words came from a heart that genuinely cared.

Windmeyer later wrote about his friendship with Cathy: “Dan expressed regret when he heard of people being treated unkindly in the name of Chick-fil-A. He offered no apology for his genuine belief about marriage.” Cathy showed sincere interest in Windmeyer’s life while never compromising his convictions. He proved that you can confront with grace. That you can speak truth without sacrificing love.

Our world desperately needs to see this balance. We’ve split into two camps—those who speak truth without love and become cruel, and those who show love without truth and become meaningless. But Jesus gives us a third way. He confronts with grace. He speaks truth in love. He cares enough to be honest and loving enough to be heard.

Reflect: Is there someone you need to confront with truth? How might you do that in a way that demonstrates genuine love and care for them?

Day 5 (Friday): Love That Can’t Be Contained

After Jesus finished washing their feet, He asked a pointed question: “Do you understand what I have done to you?” Then He made the connection clear. If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example. Now go and do the same.

This wasn’t optional. This was the defining mark of His followers.

Scripture: John 13:34-35 Additional reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died.”

Jesus didn’t just give us forgiveness and a ticket to heaven. He entered our hearts and filled us with His love. Then He said, “Now take this love out into the world. Let it control you. Let it compel you. Let it change how you treat difficult people.”

Paul understood this. When people questioned why he sacrificed so much, risked so much, surrendered so much, he had a simple answer: “The love of Christ controls us.” It wasn’t duty. It wasn’t obligation. It wasn’t trying to earn God’s favor. The love of Christ had so filled him that it overflowed into everything he did.

Here’s what Jesus said would mark His followers: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Not by our doctrine. Not by our programs. Not by our buildings or our social media presence. By our love. By whether we actually love each other the way Jesus loved us. That’s what draws a broken world to Jesus. That’s what makes people stop and ask, “What do they have that I don’t?”

You are filled with that love right now. The question is whether you’ll let it compel you. Let it control you. Let it overflow toward that difficult person in your life.

Reflect: Who needs to see Christ’s love through you today? What specific action could you take that would show them the kind of continuous, surrendering, grace-filled love that Jesus showed His disciples?