The Podiatrist examined the scaling on my son’s feet and the brittle toenails. He confirmed what I already knew—he had a fungal infection. After trimming the nails, he handed me the medication and instructions. When we returned home, I asked my son to sit so I could apply the medicine. And then something happened. As I cradled his feet in my hands, I gently worked the ointment into the skin and toenails, massaging it so it would reach where it needed to heal. His feet rested in my palms completely—trusting, vulnerable, dependent.

And in that moment… I understood something I had never fully grasped before. A picture flashed across my heart: Jesus kneeling before His disciples. I had always imagined the foot washing as a symbolic act of humility. But today, it became personal. Jesus washed their feet because they could not wash away the dirt themselves. They were unaware of the grime that clung to them. They needed help. They needed love. They needed Someone who would bend low and touch what was unclean. And here I was—doing for my son what he could not do for himself—just as my Lord once did for me. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t “spiritual-looking.” It was medicine between the toes, brittle nails, and the smell of ointment. But love becomes real in moments like these. Love kneels. Love cleanses. Love heals. Love does not wait for perfection—it meets brokenness where it is. And I heard the words again:

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

John 13:14 (ESV)

Jesus wasn’t merely asking us to repeat a ritual. He was inviting us to understand His heart. To serve quietly. To love sacrificially. To touch the unlovely places. To say with our hands what our words often fail to express. 

Today, through ointment and brittle nails, I heard Him whisper:

“This is what love looks like. Go and do likewise.”

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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