Today we continue with our guest blog series on the Fruit of the Spirit by my friend Debra
Day 1 Fruit of the Spirit challenge: Love.
There are so many verses on love; too many to count. So here are several that God brought to my mind.
Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
Today’s challenge is to search our hearts to see if we really love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. Do we love Him even when things in our lives are not going like we think they should?
And do we really love others as ourselves? Our challenge is to deeply love others, no matter how they respond to us, or treat us. Love them like Jesus does. His love is unconditional. His love is never ending. His love sees deep into our souls, knows all about our issues and shortcomings, and loves us anyway.
God loved us so much (while we were enemies of His – Romans 5:8) that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to live on earth, be beaten, and die an excruciating death in our place on the cross. He did that so that we could have eternal life with Him in Heaven. Now that is an amazing love, that I still cannot fathom!
Do we really care about loving others enough to give up _______ (whatever) in order for them to know about His love for them and the glorious eternity He wants them to experience? Has God put someone in your life who is waiting for you to share His story with?
How does God want us to show His love today? Will it be an expression directly to God? Spending some quality time with Him? Will it be something we do for someone? Will it be the way we respond to people in our own household? Will it be the way we respond to people we encounter at work, or in a store, or in a parking lot? Ask God to show you. He will.