“When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ He asked them. You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
John 13:12-17 (NIV)
These verses start with a metaphor–Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. It was a picture of being a humble servant, of serving each other.
But what practically does loving others and washing feet look like today? Here are some practical suggestions to follow Jesus’ example:
LOVE EVERYBODY
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15 (NIV). We’ve got to love everyone. There’s no one left out of this. Love God. OK, got that one. Love my spouse, neighbor, friends and co-workers. It’s a huge list. Why everybody? Remember Jesus at the Last Supper washed the feet of disciples that would deny Him, that would abandon Him, and one that would betray Him.
“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Matthew 5:46 (NIV). In the New Testament, the worst sinner was a tax-collector. There was nobody worse. It was a fellow Jew who had sold their people out to the ruling Roman Empire so they could have a job that made them rich at the expense of their own fellow Jews. So when you are walking around at church, and only greet the people that you know and like, and have something in common with you–Jesus says: Even the lowest of the low do that. But the greatest acts of love are those I don’t want to do. That is when my obedience to Jesus is greatest.
LOVE OTHERS FOR JESUS.
When you love those people that are hard to love, that don’t deserve it–my first reaction is, “No way will I love them.” But if I remember, “Do it for Jesus, not for you”–everything changes. “I’ve set an example for you that you would follow it.” That you would wash the feet of Judas. That you would wash the feet of a Peter. I love others for a Savior who laid down His life for me.
If I see myself as a representative of Jesus given an assignment–I have a totally different mindset about responding to others. “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” John 13:17 (NIV). The more I do something that I don’t want to do, the more glory I am giving to my Lord by doing it anyway, the more love I am showing Him.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
DON’T KEEP SCORE.
I’ve got to make sure I’m not keeping score when it comes to loving others and serving others–symbolically washing feet. Why? Because anytime I’m upset because I didn’t get the recognition, the praise or honor I think I deserve–it is a sign I didn’t do it for Jesus. I did what I did for the recognition, praise, the honor - not Jesus.
DON’T LET YOUR PRIDE KEEP OTHERS FROM LOVING YOU.
This one is the flip side to the first three. Sometimes some of us have a real problem letting anyone wash our feet. We’re like Peter: “No, no you’ll never wash my feet.” It can be a false humility to refuse to let others help you, serve you, or honor you. It’s pride disguised as humility. That’s what it really is.
What’s the pride? “I can handle everything on my own. I’m not worth being served.” We should never demand someone serve us and we should never be in a place where we won’t let people serve us–no, no, no, no, not me. We are robbing them of the opportunity to serve us.
There’s a balance in all this, and it all flows back to all of us having the heart that Jesus did. Who told us: I did not come to be served, but to serve and lay down my life as a ransom for many. He said: Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
