We should have the ambition before the Lord to wash others’ feet in love; for this, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in constant fellowship with the Lord, and we need to refresh others’ spirit, in this way maintaining an excellent fellowship with which we shall have the real church life.
Every one of us as believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ need to be prepared to wash others’ feet in love, and we need to allow others to wash our feet in the meetings and in our fellowship with one another.
There is nothing more crucial or more precious in our service as Christians than spiritual foot-washing.
The Lord loved us to the uttermost by coming where we are and ministering the life supply to each one of us.
First, He washes our feet, and then, He ministers the life supply for us to be nourished and go on with Him.
He loves us so much that He lowers Himself to where we are and, though He sees how dirty our feet are because of our contact with and walk in the world, He humbles Himself even lower to wash us and cleanse us.
The Lord is doing to us all the time, both personally and through the saints as we meet.
Sometimes we come to the meetings of the church and we don’t have any feelings toward the Lord or the saints; however, as we open to the Lord in the meetings, the Lord has a way to wash our feet, and we realize how much we love Him and we love the church.
This is our experience many times.
Sometimes we come to the meeting of the church and we struggle with something, or we may simply be “out of it”; we feel so dirty, for though we did not sin, we were involved in many things that day, and the world got us so dirty.
But when the saints start praying or singing when someone shares a word in the meeting or expresses his enjoyment of Christ, we experience spiritual foot-washing, and we can once again function in the meeting for the building.
We may have such a good fellowship with the Lord in the morning, but simply by taking care of the things we need to do during the day, our feet get dirty.
We may just go shopping, take care of the house chores, and take care of the children, doing nothing evil in itself, but our feet are dirtied.
We need spiritual foot-washing. We need to come to the Lord and let Him wash us and cleanse us not only from our sins but even more from our dirty feet.
And we need to come to the meetings of the church and allow the Lord through the saints to minister life to us and wash us.
This is so that we may have a proper church life and remain in an excellent fellowship with the Lord and with the saints.
Having the Ambition to Wash others’ Feet in Love by being Filled with the Spirit and being in Constant Fellowship with the Lord
The matter of foot-washing is something of love; Christ loved us to the uttermost in order to meet our uttermost need.
Each one of us needs to learn how to love the brothers and sisters by ministering the spiritual foot-washing to them.
The Lord loved us so much that He laid down His life for us, and He still loves us to the uttermost so that He comes to us to wash our feet again and again.
How can wash one another’s feet in love? Brother Watchman Nee has a very good testimony or sharing on this matter, which I would like to quote here,
Suppose you have completed your day’s work and feel tired. You cannot utter any praises from your mouth. In the evening when you come to the meeting, someone asks you to pray. Halfway through your prayer, you cannot go on, and you stop. You feel as if your prayer is nothing more than a composition. However, perhaps one brother in the meeting has a fresh spirit, and his prayer refreshes your spirit. Your spiritual energy is renewed. This is washing one another’s feet. Many times when we come to the meeting, we find the saints’ spirit weak and downtrodden. We pray and read the Word, but nothing seems to work. The reason for this is that everyone’s feet are defiled, and there is no basin to wash the feet. It is as if something is quenching our spirits. If someone would stand up at this point and wash everyone’s feet by offering a prayer or saying a few words, the whole meeting will be refreshed…The same is true in our family life. A brother or sister may unexpectedly drop by your home and fellowship a short while or give a testimony, and everyone in the family is brought into the presence of God. Before that time there was a separation between them and God, but after such a simple conversation, all the separation is gone. This is washing one another’s feet. Those who do this are precious in the Lord’s eyes. Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 42, p. 281
None of us is always in our spirit, and none of us lives one spirit with the Lord all the time. Rather, we may contact the Lord in the morning and be inwardly supplied by Him, and we may experience Him throughout the day.
But many times when we come to the meetings of the church, we may not feel like sharing anything or even praying.
In our spirit, we are always ready to minister something of Christ, but we have become dirty by our contact with the world, and we need to be washed.
Sometimes our spirit is weak and downtrodden. We may try to read and pray over the word of God, but not much happens.
But when we come to the meeting and there is someone or a few saints who exercise their spirit and minister the life supply to others, we have our feet washed, and we are refreshed and invigorated.
We all should have such an ambition to come to the meetings of the church and, before the Lord, wash others’ feet.
To be able to do this, however, we must have the living water; we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and remain in constant fellowship with the Lord.
We need to exercise our spirit and contact the Lord throughout the day. We need to live in the Holy Spirit daily.
When we do this, when we pay the price to contact the Lord and live in spirit, being filled with the Spirit not only in our spirit but even in our soul, we will have the living water to wash others’ feet.
When we come to the meeting, even before coming to the meeting, we need to come to the Lord and be washed by Him; then, we need to bring our basin of living water to the meeting to wash others’ feet in love.
We all have experienced this; many times when we come to a meeting we sense that the saints’ feet are so dirty after a whole week of being at work and at home.
This shouldn’t cause us to be upset with the saints or expose their dirtiness; we should simply exercise our spirit to share something fresh of the Lord that we have enjoyed, and we will wash their feet.
Sometimes some saints may be gloomy and cloudy, for their feet are very dirty from their contact with the world.
May we learn from the Lord Jesus and be one with Him as the One who lives in us to wash others’ feet in love by ministering something of Christ to them.
May we be those who learn to remove the separation between the saints and the Lord by our ministering the spiritual foot-washing to them.
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us to the uttermost in order to meet our uttermost needs. Thank You for coming to us where we are to wash our feet and minister life to us. We desire to be one with You, Lord, to not only have our feet washed by You but even more, wash others’ feet in love. Fill us with the Holy Spirit! Keep us in a constant fellowship with You. Oh Lord, we want to live in the spirit daily. We want to gain more of You, contact You, and experience You throughout the day. May we be those who pay the price to gain more of the Spirit not only in our spirit but also in our soul through our living in the mingled spirit. Amen, Lord Jesus, grant us to be filled with the living water so that we may minister the water of life to others for their spiritual foot-washing!
We need to Practice Spiritual Foot-washing so that we may have the Reality of the Church Life
Being a genuine Christian, a Spirit-born child of God, is the most amazing yet normal matter; it is amazing because we have God as our life, and it is normal because it is not out of the ordinary yet it is divinely human.
Christ came as the incarnation of God to bring God into man; when we received Him, He came to bring God into us.
He resurrected and ascended to bring man into God; one day, we will be fully brought into God.
Now we are in the process of being mingled with God as the divine Spirit is mingled with our human spirit.
What we experience today is not something of God in a supernatural way but His divinity being mingled with our humanity, and our humanity being mingled with His divinity.
This is the church, the Body of Christ – the mingling of God with man.
When we are in our spirit, we Christians are heavenly, eternal, and spiritual; however, in our physical body, we are still on this earth and in the old creation.
This is a paradox: in our spirit, we touch God and the heavenly things, yet at the same time we live in the flesh among others, not standing out in any way outwardly.
Because we still live in the old creation, we need to be kept clean from all the earthly touch so that we may maintain the fellowship with the Lord and with the Body of Christ.
How can we maintain our fellowship with the Lord and with the saints? How can we have the reality of the church life?
If we all get dirtied by the world and by our contact with these things around us, how can we live and realize the church life?
It is abnormal for a Christian to sin habitually, but it is not abnormal for him to get dirty because of his contact with the world.
It is actually normal for us to get dirty; the solution is not more rebuking and pointing out the dirty parts, but the spiritual foot-washing.
We need to practice the spiritual foot-washing so that we may have the reality of the church life.
In order for our fellowship with the Lord to be restored and for us to have a good fellowship with the saints in the Body, we need to practice spiritual foot-washing.
For us to be able to wash others’ feet in love, we must daily be filled with the Holy Spirit, be in constant fellowship with the Lord, and live in the mingled spirit (Eph. 5:18; 3:19; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4, 6).
On the personal side, in our personal and private time with the Lord, we need to contact Him, seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and remain in constant fellowship with the Lord.
As we learn to daily live in the mingled spirit and remain in constant fellowship with the Lord, we will gain something of the living water for us to minister to others to wash their feet.
The daily foot-washing definitely needs to be exercised by the Lord Himself on the one hand and by all the saints on the other hand.
Then, we shall be able to maintain an excellent fellowship with which we shall have the real church life.
Without the spiritual foot-washing in the church life, we cannot have the reality of the church life.
Without practising washing one another’s feet as we meet together, we cannot realize the church life.
We need to maintain our fellowship with the Lord and with one another by washing one another’s feet; without this, the reality of the church life is gone.
Even the apostle Paul needed to be refreshed by the saints; he rejoiced at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus because these have filled up the lack caused by the absence of the saints (see 1 Cor. 16:17-18; cf. 2 Cor. 7:13).
The visit of the saints who live in constant fellowship with the Lord and are filled with the Holy Spirit refreshes our spirit.
May we have fresh spiritual experiences every day; may we refresh ourselves and the saints.
Lord Jesus, fill us with Yourself today! We come to You to contact You and be filled with You. We open to You, dear Lord, and we want to remain in constant fellowship with You today. Keep us living in the mingled spirit. We want to maintain a constant fellowship with the Lord and with the saints so that we may have the real church life. Amen, Lord Jesus, may we be those who refresh our spirit and others’ spirit also. May we remain in our spirit, live in our spirit, and remain in fellowship with the Lord all throughout the day. Grant us fresh spiritual experiences every day. Amen, Lord, may we refresh ourselves and refresh others also for the maintenance of the fellowship with the Lord and with the saints. We come to You, dear Lord, to have our feet washed and to maintain our fellowship with You. Fill us with the Spirit so that we may refresh others’ spirits and realize the church life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message, and portions from, Life-study of John, pp. 343-343 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Loving the Lord and loving one another for the organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ (2022 fall ITERO), week 5, entitled, Life’s Washing in Love to Maintain Fellowship.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ to me is so subjective, / Life imparting all the way; / As the Spirit He revives me / And refreshes day by day. / So subjective is my Christ to me! / Real in me, and rich and sweet! / All-inclusive is my Christ to me! / All my needs He fully meets. (Hymns #537 stanza 2 and chorus)
– To maintain the sweet communion, / Brotherly love; / Fellowship and healing union, / Brotherly love. / Love believing for the brothers, / Hoping all things for the others, / Suffering all with one another, / Brotherly love. / For the issue of fruit bearing, / Brotherly love. / Fellowship in oneness sharing, / Brotherly love. / Here our soul life we’re forsaking, / And the Spirit’s way we’re taking, / Now from death to life we’re breaking, / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277 stanzas 2 and 3)
– O home in the church, / Where we’ve ended our search / With the brothers rejoicing all day; / Where Christ is our life, / And we’re through with all strife, / Now we’re home, hallelujah, to stay! / Home, home in the church; / Yes, it’s here that we’ve ended our search; / And through all our days / We will shout to His praise, / “Hallelujah for Christ and the church!” (Hymns #1233 stanza 1)
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We need the spiritual foot-washing to cleanse us from the earthly touch and to keep our spiritual fellowship in a good condition. Then it is possible to realize the church life. If the church life is to be kept fresh, new, pleasant, and living, we continually need this foot-washing… Every church needs to pray for this. Then the church will be preserved in newness and freshness. The Lord came to bring God into us, and He went to bring us into God. Now there is the real mingling of the divine Spirit with our human spirit. Humanity is mingled with divinity, and divinity is mingled with humanity. This is the church, the Body of Christ. In their spirit the Christians are heavenly, eternal, and spiritual, but in their physical body they are still on this earth and in the old creation. Hence, there is the need for them to be kept clean from all the earthly touch in order that the fellowship of the Body and the fellowship with the Lord might be maintained. This fellowship is maintained by foot-washing. Foot-washing is very, very important because the fellowship with the Lord and with one another can never be maintained without it. Without it, the church life cannot be realized. In fact, the reality of the church life would be gone. Therefore, the daily foot-washing definitely needs to be exercised by the Lord Himself on the one hand and by all the saints on the other. Then we shall be able to maintain an excellent fellowship with which we shall have the real church life. Life-study of John, pp. 343-344, by Witness Lee
How can we wash one another’s feet? Suppose you have completed your day’s work and feel tired. You cannot utter any praises from your mouth. In the evening when you come to the meeting, someone asks you to pray. Halfway through your prayer, you cannot go on, and you stop. You feel as if your prayer is nothing more than a composition. However, perhaps one brother in the meeting has a fresh spirit, and his prayer refreshes your spirit. Your spiritual energy is renewed. This is washing one another’s feet. Many times when we come to the meeting, we find the saints’ spirit weak and downtrodden. We pray and read the Word, but nothing seems to work. The reason for this is that everyone’s feet are defiled, and there is no basin to wash the feet. It is as if something is quenching our spirits. If someone would stand up at this point and wash everyone’s feet by offering a prayer or saying a few words, the whole meeting will be refreshed…The same is true in our family life. A brother or sister may unexpectedly drop by your home and fellowship a short while or give a testimony, and everyone in the family is brought into the presence of God. Before that time there was a separation between them and God, but after such a simple conversation, all the separation is gone. This is washing one another’s feet. Those who do this are precious in the Lord’s eyes. Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 42, p. 281
We should have an ambition before the Lord to wash others’ feet. In order to wash others’ feet, we must have the water; that is, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in constant fellowship with the Lord.
For this cause we must live in the Holy Spirit daily. Only then will we have the living water to wash others’ feet.
Every time we come to the meeting, we must have the living water to wash others’ feet.
Yes, the spiritual significance of foot washing is not only the physical act, but also the awakening of our spirit by the life giving Spirit and Spirit filled brothers to encourage one another in our fellowship.
Aaaaameeen! Thank You Lord! Fill us this evening, thank You we can be filled in Spirit to enjoy the living water to wash other’s feet!
Without the spiritual footwashing the church life cannot be realised and the reality of the church life, which is the fellowship in the Body is gone. O Lord Jesus!
We must have the ambition to wash one another’s feet so that when others are weary, separated and cannot pray our spirit would be fresh and living to wash the defiled feet to bring in the life supply!
For this we must be daily filled with the Holy Spirit and be in constant fellowship with the Lord, so that the fellowship among the saints can be maintained!
In [Hebrews 7:7] , we see the principle of blessing: that the greater blesses the lesser. To be greater or lesser is not mainly a matter of age. It is a matter of the measure of Christ. We are greater or lesser according to our measure of Christ….The reason John was greater than his predecessors was that he was very close to Christ. Although Abraham was great, he did not see Christ. However, John the Baptist saw Him.
But all of us in the kingdom of heaven can say that Christ is within us. We can even say, “For to me to live is Christ. If you have more of Christ, you are greater. If you have less of Christ, you are lesser.
If by having more of Christ we are greater than others, then we are qualified to bless them; for the greater always blesses the lesser. The reason for this is that the greater one has a larger measure of Christ to give to others.
We bless them with the very Christ in whom we participate and whom we enjoy. If we enjoy Christ more, then we have more of Christ to minister to others. This ministering of Christ is blessing.
Amen brother!
Eph. 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit.
Rom. 15:32 So that coming to you in joy through the will of God, I may refresh myself and rest with you.
Amen Lord! May we experience daily the filling of the Spirit by continuing fellowship with You, in order to wash others feet with the Spirit to maintain a fresh and living fellowship for the building up of the Body of Christ!
Amen brother. May we have an ambition to wash one another’s feet, for today the Lord does not wash anyone’s feet directly. He charges us to wash one another’s feet.
Only if we are faithful to wash one another’s feet can the church life be realised. The church life needs to be a garden of Eden; somewhere fresh, new, pleasant and living.
We all need to pray for this.
The church life should be full of humanity mingled with divinity, and divinity mingled with humanity. We all need to be cleansed from the earthly touch. Otherwise, the reality of the church life would be gone.
On the one hand, Jesus Himself washes our feet; on the other, we saints ourselves must wash one another’s feet. May we come to all the meetings filled with the Spirit and living in the presence of the Lord, and with the desire to wash one another’s feet.