06/02/2026
F I V E M A R K S O F A M E T H O D I S T · C O M P A N I O N R E S O U R C E
Loving God in the Ordinary
A Seven-Day Devotional Guide
A companion resource to Mark 1 of Five Marks of a Methodist by Steve Harper
Steve Harper writes that a Methodist loves God. Not admires God, not believes in
God in an abstract sense, but loves God — with the whole heart, the whole mind,
the whole life. Wesley understood this love not as a feeling that arrives and
departs on its own terms, but as a relationship that is tended, practiced, and
deepened in the ordinary moments of an ordinary day.
This guide is for seven days. Each day is brief — ten minutes or less. The readings
are short, the questions are honest, and the practice is simple. The goal is not to
produce a spiritual experience. The goal is to pay attention to the love of God that
is already present in the life you are already living.
01
D A Y O N E
What Love of God Actually Feels Like
— S C R I P T U R E
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.
M A R K 1 2 : 3 0 ( C E B )
— R E F L E C T I O N
Jesus quotes this as the first and greatest commandment. Notice that it is a
commandment. Not a suggestion, not a description of what the spiritually gifted
feel, but a command given to everyone. Wesley took this seriously. If love of God
is commanded, then it is something we can do — or fail to do. It is not simply
something that happens to us.
That is either very liberating or very uncomfortable, depending on where you are
today.
Think about the relationships in your life where love is most alive. What does that
love look like in practice? It probably involves attention — you notice the other
person. It involves preference — you choose to spend time with them. It involves
delight — you are glad they exist.
God invites the same orientation. Not performance. Not guilt. Attention,
preference, delight.
— Q U E S T I O N F O R T O D A Y
When did you last feel genuine delight in God — not duty, not relief, but
actual delight? What was happening?
— P R A C T I C E
Sometime today, stop what you are doing for two minutes. Not to pray formally.
Just to notice. Notice what is around you, who is around you, what your life
actually contains. Then say, simply: Thank you. That is the beginning of love.
