In the garden of my heart, each plant has a label. “Faith”, “Hope”, “Goodness”, “Kindness”, etc. But when I get to “Love”, there’s no plant – just a black crater. No, wait. If you bend down and squint, there is a plant – a tiny, yellow shoot struggling for life.
This doesn’t look good, not good at all. But what do I do? How do I cultivate genuine, earnest love and get that love to replace my total absorption in myself and my projects?
Maybe 10 years ago, my answer would have been “work harder at loving God”. A couple years ago, it would have been “delve deeply into His love for me”. These are both true and important answers. But what God’s been convicting me about recently is to practice love, starting with the simple and tangible: the people around me. This is in line with what John says, “he who doesn’t love his brother, whom he has seen, can’t love God, whom he hasn’t seen” (1 John 4:20, ESV).
A practical starting place, washing people’s feet, happened to be in my reading this morning (I know, blind luck and random chance 
. What’s even more perfect is that the big contrast Jesus uses in the passage (John 13:12-14) is between his role (leader) and his actions (servant).
When I think about my relationships with people – my wife, son, office manager, ministry partners, co-workers – with almost everyone, I’m either officially a leader or unofficially acting as one.
I try to serve by giving direction and leadership, and by making sure everyone’s needs are met, but this is light-years away from the grungy and totally unnecessary service that Jesus does here.
When I finally do ask them questions, think about them or pray for them, it’s always about how they relate to me and my goals. It’s long-past time for me to practice caring about what’s important to them and then asking, thinking & praying about them as it relates to that.
