Devotion 2: Where Love Leaves Its Trace

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Hebrews 10:24

This verse is so straightforward, but also so challenging. It tells us to actually think about how our presence, our words, and our choices can awaken something good in the people around us. In this part of scripture, “stir” carries the meaning of provoking, sparking, awakening, and moving someone towards love, toward action, toward the things God calls good.

Intentional or not, we all stir something. Every time we walk into a room, join a conversation, or sit beside someone during a gathering, we are adding something into the mix. Sometimes we stir things that build up: encouragement, unity, faith, movement; and sometimes we stir things that aren’t helpful: drama, selfishness, or that quiet consumer mentality that says, “What can the church do for me?”

It is so easy to fall into that mentality, to sit in the church chair and stay passive, to show up without stepping into the calling of this verse. Hebrews 10:24 is an invitation into action, into responsibility, into love that moves. It asks us to shift our posture from receiving to participating. Instead of asking, “What can I get?” it nudges us to ask, “What can I give my church family? To my brother or sister in Christ? To someone in my local body who needs encouragement today?”

The verse goes on to give the direction, “to love and good works.” Jesus summarizes this perfectly when He says that the greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and the second greatest commandment is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). The second commandment is the overflow and natural echo of the first. Loving God deeply has this way of making love for people an overflow. You don’t have to fake it because it rises from within. Your heart grows, your attitude changes, and your presence carries the aroma of Christ that others want to draw near to.

So, when the church gathers together, side by side in worship, prays together, when we check in on each other, when we share meals, stories, and burdens with each other, we are shaping the culture of our church. Every person contributes. Every attitude leaves a trace. The question this verse leaves us with is simple, but convicting: What am I stirring in?

I hope that we lean into this calling. Not settling for passivity, not slipping into consumer mode, but showing up with intention. I pray that we would be people who stir up love, who encourage faith, who move one another toward good works, simply because our love for God is overflowing into our love for His people.

If you’re in a season where you feel disconnected or unsure of what you bring, or maybe you’ve just been showing up, sitting down, and slipping out, ask the Lord for fresh eyes. Ask Him to show you the person who needs encouragement, the conversation that needs your kindness, the burden you could help carry. You might be someone’s answered prayer without even realizing it. Remember, all of this starts with Jesus and His redeeming work in us. He is sanctifying us and stirring up something new so He can work through us and use our lives as the overflow that strengthens His people.