Once when Jesus was attending an exclusive dinner party for an elite group of people, an outsider, a woman of ill repute, one of those to be avoided, crashed the party, perhaps slipping in the back door. When the other guests saw her, they shunned her and perhaps whispered about her to each other. How dare she enter here!

She moved behind the seated Jesus and began weeping in contrition, big tears of regret, sadness, and sorrow for her sins poured down her face, falling onto His feet. She wiped the better tears from His feet with her hair and, falling to her knees, she kissed his very feet, then poured her jar of extravagantly expensive oil onto his feet. Her act of worship complete, she lay exhausted at his feet, silently weeping and kissing his feet.

Simon, the host and the other invited guests were indignant. Simon said to himself, “If this Jesus were a prophet, he would know who this sinful woman is and shun her as we do!”

Now Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts.

Perhaps we have been guilty of comparing ourselves to others, condemning them for the sins we think are so much worse than our own. We may have reassured ourselves with the thought, “Oh, I’m not so bad, compared to him.” Yet we have no right to judge! Instead of comparing and judging, we should keep praying Luke 23:34 – “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do?” And we should remember that Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Dear God, please forgive me. I am a sinner, in need of your LOVE and forgiveness. Forgive me for judging my neighbor and for comparing myself to them. Help me to pray for my neighbors and to love them as you do. Teach me to LOVE as you LOVE and to forgive as much as I hope to be forgiven. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

This passage is probably one of the most well-known in the New Testament. I bet many of us who are married had this verse read at our weddings. It took me a while to realize that this isn’t necessarily about romantic love, but agape love. My understanding is that Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth during a tough time when there were lots of disagreements among the church members. They were doing important work, but had lost sight of their love for one another.

When we think about loving our neighbors, we often think about it in the abstract sense. It’s easy to talk about loving our neighbors, but this verse makes clear that the love that Paul is talking about is an action verb. In fact, he lists many actions, both positive and negative that are love-driven. I wonder why he listed patience first? That one really hits home for me as I am often most impatient with the ones I love the most. If you’re patient, you’re slow to anger, you endure personal wrongs without retaliating. You bear with others’ imperfections, faults, and differences. You give them time to change, room to make mistakes without coming down hard on them. All that takes work.

And then comes Kindness. Kindness is patience in action. It originates from a Greek word meaning “useful”. A kind person is usually helpful. He seeks out needs and looks for opportunities to meet those needs without repayment. He is tender and forgiving when wronged, and his kindness motivates others toward positive change.

Jealousy and envy are two important negative actions that exist when agape love is not there. They both stem from selfishness. Jealousy is wanting what someone else has. Bragging is trying to make others jealous of what we have. Jealousy puts others down; bragging builds us up in our own minds. Neither are healthy, helpful, or loving.

I am working on making my love more actionable and intentional. By doing so, I hope to create some positive change in my life.

Dear Lord, let us hear Your Word and let it guide us toward love in actionable ways. You are the perfect example for us. Amen.

This devotion was written by Virginia Hardwick Kerr.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

The longer I live the more beautiful and frightening I find John 3. In my opinion, it contains some of the most comforting and the most challenging statements in all of Christianity. When we listen to the teachings that Jesus shares with us, the bar is so high, and yet there is literally no bar. We must give up all, and yet no works are required.

We must abandon our worldly desires, our kinship and birthright, and yet we are saved by grace and born again in the Spirit with living waters. Nicodemus is rebuked for being a teacher of Israel but not understanding, and yet these verses clearly say it is beyond human capacity to understand the Spirit. We hear it, but we neither know its origin nor its destination.

Nicodemus came in the night to find understanding, walking out of the darkness and into the light. But at the very same time, he does not walk in knowing the Spirit. He asks how can that be? I think we all encounter Christ more clearly when we are in darkness. We see more clearly when we seek the light of Jesus not our own illumination. Our path is more clear when led by the light of the Spirit than when we turn on our own light and seek to understand each day.

To find the answer we must ask the question. To follow Jesus, we must assume we are lost. To be guided by the Spirit, we must listen quietly not speak. To live in grace, we must have faith not knowledge. To see the light, we must sit in darkness. To stand tall, we must kneel. To be rich, we must be a servant. To experience the love of God, we must give all to others.

But then, what do I know?

Heavenly Father, we pray that we may we be like Nicodemus and seek you. May our hearts be led by the Spirit. Allow us to be led by your light, not our own artificial light. Each day may we listen to the wind blow and answer Your call, Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Susan Daves.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

You’ve heard the phrase. Maybe you’ve used it yourself. “It was a real Damascus Road moment” — meaning something stopped you cold, turned you completely around, changed everything.

The expression has become so common that it’s easy to assume we already know the story. But the actual account in Acts is stranger and more unsettling than the phrase suggests.

Saul of Tarsus was not a confused man searching for meaning. He was not someone open to a new perspective. He was on his way to Damascus with legal authority to arrest followers of Jesus — to drag them back to Jerusalem in chains. He was certain he was doing God’s work. He was zealous, educated, and completely, catastrophically wrong.

Then the light. Then the ground. Then the voice.

And here’s where the familiar story gets unfamiliar: Jesus doesn’t ask Saul why he’s persecuting the church. He doesn’t ask why Saul is persecuting his followers, or his people, or his movement.

He says, “Why do you persecute me?”

Me.

Saul hadn’t laid a hand on Jesus. Jesus was risen, ascended, glorified. And yet — every believer dragged from their home, every family torn apart, every person imprisoned for following the Way — Jesus counted it as done to himself. He was so completely identified with his people that an attack on them was an attack on him.

That’s not just a comfort for people facing persecution. It’s a staggering claim about who Jesus is and how close he stays.

It means the lonely person sitting in the back of the church — Jesus is there. The believer nobody checks on — Jesus notices. The one who feels invisible, forgotten, like their suffering doesn’t register anywhere — Jesus says, that registers with me. That happened to me.

Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” — the right question, finally, after years of being certain he already knew.

Sometimes, the most important thing a Damascus Road moment does isn’t change our direction. It changes who we think we’re dealing with.

Father, open our eyes to how closely you identify with the people around us. Help us see that how we treat others — especially the forgotten and the struggling — is how we treat you. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

When Jesus declared that the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself, many Christians assume he was introducing something new. He was not. Jesus was quoting directly from Leviticus, and he was standing squarely within one of the deepest streams of Jewish teaching.

The great Rabbi Akiva called this verse "a great principle of Torah," meaning it was a key by which many other commandments should be understood. A generation earlier, the famous teacher Hillel told a student who asked him to summarize the entire law. He said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and learn." These teachings were well established long before Jesus walked the earth.

Of course, knowing what we should do and actually doing it are two different things. The Jewish people did not always live up to this ideal, and neither have Christians. We are all works in progress.

What strikes me about this passage is that love is not presented as a feeling or a sentiment. It is active. Look at how verse 17 connects to verse 18. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, the text says, but you shall reason with your neighbor. The rabbis understood this to mean that silent resentment is a form of hatred. If you truly love someone, you don't let grievances fester. You address them honestly, but gently and privately, with the goal of restoration.

In our Wesleyan tradition, we talk about social holiness. Personal piety is not enough. Our faith must express itself in action toward others. Love your neighbor is not a suggestion or a nice idea. It is a command, and commands require obedience and action. Love, in the biblical sense, is a verb.

Our Father, forgive us for the times when we have let love remain only a word. Help us to act on the love you have commanded, to engage with our neighbors honestly and kindly, and to be doers of your word and not hearers only. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

You are listening to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast written and produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee.

Today is Easter Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. It is the most important and most joyous day in the Christian calendar, and we are happy that you have joined us today.

The first Easter morning did not start with celebrations of Hallelujah! It began with sadness, followed by fear and confusion. A group of women went to tend to Jesus’ grave, still grieving from the horror of his crucifixion and likely in fear of encountering Roman soldiers at the tomb. On arrival, they found the stone rolled away and an empty tomb…Jesus’ body was gone. If that did not put them into shock, their encounter with an Angel, described as the appearance of lightning and clothes as white as snow must have completely frightened them. Then we hear the Angel speak:

He (Jesus) has risen, just as He said! Come and see for yourself and then go witness to the disciples. In fear and joy, the women delivered the message.

Jesus had risen, just as He said! And having appeared to the disciples, they too were charged to go and be a witness.

In 1739, Charles Wesley penned a hymn that has been sung during Easter services for the last 286 years.

In the last two thousand years since that first Easter, how many times have people encountered the risen Jesus, and having believed gone out to be a witness. I am one of them. On this Easter morning, I join with countless Christians to celebrate the risen Christ, to sing Hallelujah, praises to God. I celebrate the witnesses in my life, my parents and a faith community that led me to a relationship with Christ, accepting Jesus as the Savior who died on a cross for my sins. On this Easter morning and every Easter morning, we celebrate Christ the Lord has risen today.

When we sing our Hallelujahs, we provide a witness to others that Jesus has risen, just as He said. We are Easter people, we witness to the risen Christ who is still with us today. Hallelujah!

This devotion was written and read by Owen Ragland.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.