John 13:34,35  A new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (EHV)

I remember the day I arrived at their home. I was a teen. I was scared on the inside but brave on the outside. The house was quiet and welcoming; the one I had left was chaotic and scary. The woman took me to the room where I would stay. Her husband was at work. Their two children, whom they had adopted, were not home. After settling my things in the room, she invited me into the kitchen for a snack. I remember her coring an apple. It was so strange to me that she would do that. No one had cared enough to core an apple for me before—not that I remembered anyway. Her calm demeanor and the stillness of the home was comforting.

In the Bible we learn that the Old Testament covenant between God and the Israelites had a lot of focus on outward behaviors with rules and commands. As the passage above shows, when Jesus carried out his ministry, he taught about the heart. He spent three years during his earthly ministry loving on outcasts, untouchables, drunkards, and sinners. He assembled a group of unskilled and unlearned men to be part of his inner circle of disciples. Jesus taught them how to love by loving them. He modeled a love that was like “the wisdom that comes from above…pure… peaceful, gentle… full of mercy… impartial, and sincere” (James 3:17, EHV). It was this love that he instructed his disciples to show to each other, and it was this love that would be a striking witness to the world of those who follow Jesus.

We may not have grown up with parents who exercised wisdom from above or who loved like Jesus loved. We may be parenting children who came from homes that were chaotic and scary or who, because of extraordinary challenges, have behaviors that are sometimes chaotic and scary. In these moments, we turn to God’s Word for direction and comfort. The pages of Scripture are full of demonstrations of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. We endeavor to live the love that we've known from him.

I remember the day she arrived in my home. She was a teen. She was brave on the outside, but I could see fear in her eyes. I led her to the room where she would stay. After settling her things, I invited her to the kitchen for a snack. As I grabbed an apple and a paring knife, I wondered if she had ever known the kindness of having someone care enough to core an apple for her…

Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for putting Christians in my life who demonstrate your love to me. Thank you for your Word which tells the story of your love through all sixty-six books. Keep me close to you through your Word so that I can grow in your love; please love through me. In your precious name I pray, Jesus. Amen.

by Rebeckah Ellinghuysen.

Rebeckah Ellinghuysen, MA, spent 15 months in an out-of-home placement as a teen. As an adult, she spent several years working with foster care and the child protection system in various roles, including as a foster mom to teen girls.