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The Daily Devotional
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Leaving God for God
“I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” — Matthew 25:36
Reflection
The call to serve others is not merely an addendum to Christian discipleship; it is deeply woven into its very fabric, serving as the heartbeat of a lived faith. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reminds His followers with piercing clarity that to love Him is to love and serve "the least of these"—the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned, and the forgotten. It is within this sacred mandate that the life and legacy of Harriet Monsell, a pioneering woman in the mid-nineteenth-century revival of monastic life within the Anglican tradition, so powerfully resonates. Her life became a profound testament to the delicate, necessary balance between contemplation and action, demonstrating that the space between the prayer desk and the city street is not a divide, but a continuous path. During the Victorian era, a time marked by stark contrasts between immense wealth and grinding poverty, Monsell embodied a calling that bridged the gap, refusing to look away from the suffering that polite society preferred to ignore.
When Harriet Monsell was first drawn into the redemptive work at Clewer, she did not set out with the grand, preconceived intention of founding a religious order. A recent widow, she was navigating her own profound grief when she responded to an immediate, pressing need: a call to serve women who were trapped in devastating cycles of poverty, prostitution, and exploitation. Leaving behind personal comfort, societal expectations, and the security of a quiet life, she stepped into the margins to minister to those whom society had effectively discarded. As she gathered other women around her, forming what would become the Community of Saint John Baptist, her guiding principle was encapsulated in a simple yet profoundly challenging ethos: “I suppose the Sisters must always be ready to leave God for God.”
This paradoxical statement reflects a deep spiritual truth about the nature of active ministry. It acknowledges that there are sacred moments when we must momentarily step away from the quiet intimacy of formal prayer to answer Christ’s urgent call to serve Him in the broken, the wounded, and the destitute. For Harriet and her sisters, this meant leaving the sanctuary to step into places of immense suffering. It meant recognizing that offering shelter, physical care, and the tangible love of Christ to those in desperate need was not an interruption of their devotion, but its very fulfillment. They found the Divine not just in the silence of the chapel, but in the faces of the women they rescued.
We do not have to look far to find modern-day illustrations of this kind of sacrificial, incarnational service. It is vividly present in the tireless work of hospice chaplains who sit at the bedsides of the dying, offering a quiet presence in the face of profound transition. It is seen in the dedicated volunteers, medical professionals, and social workers who serve the unhoused populations of our modern cities, navigating the complexities of addiction and trauma with unwavering compassion. Many of these workers dedicate themselves so fully to the care of others that they frequently miss formal church services, family gatherings, or their own scheduled times of personal reflection in order to extend Christ’s mercy to someone in crisis. Their lives, mirroring the dedication of Harriet Monsell, remind us that the act of serving others can itself be an elevated form of worship. They teach us that the hands bandaging a wound or offering a warm meal are engaged in a liturgy just as holy as the voices singing hymns in a choir.
Harriet Monsell’s enduring legacy calls each of us to rigorously examine our own faith in action. It prompts us to ask uncomfortable but necessary questions: Do we truly see Christ in the suffering around us, or do we look away when the reality of pain becomes too inconvenient? Are we willing to embody the courage required to “leave God for God,” allowing our neatly organized spiritual routines to be interrupted by the messy, demanding reality of someone else's need? True devotion, as Monsell understood, is never confined solely to the walls of a church building or the pages of a prayer book. It flourishes in the streets, in chaotic homes, in hospital waiting rooms, and in every quiet, uncelebrated act of kindness done in the name of Jesus.
Take a moment today to carefully consider how you might step out of your comfort zone to serve someone in need. It may be as simple as checking in on a lonely neighbor whose name you hardly know, volunteering your time at a local shelter, or intentionally praying for a co-worker who is visibly struggling. The Community of Saint John Baptist continues its redemptive mission today, standing as a living witness to the enduring power of faith translated into action. Harriet Monsell’s life remains a beacon, reminding us that Christian service is not a separate, secondary activity from spiritual devotion—it is its most natural, necessary extension. May we, too, embrace this beautiful and demanding calling, grounded in the profound assurance that when we open our hands to serve others, we are, in fact, embracing Christ Himself.
Prayer
Gracious and loving God, we thank You for the life and witness of Harriet Monsell. Teach us to see Your presence in the suffering and the vulnerable. Give us the courage to serve, even when it is inconvenient, and the faith to know that when we care for others, we are drawing closer to You. May we, like Mother Harriet, be faithful, fervent in prayer, and filled with love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Devotional by: Kenny Sallee, ThM — Deming, NM, USA
The Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV)© 1989, 1993, the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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