I Am Because You Are August 23, 2025 Devotional

JOHN 4:28-30 | ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.

The Samaritan woman’s responses in this passage are a model for how we can and should respond to Jesus and His gospel. There are three movements in her response.

First, she openly and honestly engages with Him, bringing her current understanding of faith and practice and her questions. She takes a risk in speaking to Him, a Jew, as a Samaritan woman. She listens to Him and enters a dialogue. This takes relational courage.

Second, she faces her need, admitting her moral and relational failings. This takes personal courage. She embraces the vulnerable position, not hiding her brokenness.

Third, having realized Jesus is not just a prophet but God’s Messiah, she goes back to her village as a testifying witness. This takes spiritual and social courage, risking rejection and incredulity.

Open interest, sincere repentance and belief, and then missional activity and witness—these are the three necessary movements of the gospel in our lives.

Think about your life in terms of these movements.

Gracious God,

Grant me the courage to commit and believe, to repent, and to represent Your truth and reality in this world.

Amen.