From my book Prayerfully Yours, a prayer for God’s help in living by what Jesus identified as the heart of the gospel: that one simple word ‘love’.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you summed up the law in one simple word: ‘love’.
Forgive me that though I often talk about love
I rarely show it in practice.
Forgive me everything in my life
that has denied that love:
the angry words and unkind comments,
the thoughtless deeds and careless actions,
the sorrow I have brought rather than joy,
the hurt rather than healing,
the care I have failed to express,
support I have refused to offer,
and forgiveness I have been unwilling to extend.
Help me to look to you who showed love in action –
a love that bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things –
and help me truly to realise that unless I have that,
then all my words, faith and religion count for nothing.
Amen.