Friday 30 March

Friday Reading: 1 Peter 1:22-23

Key Verse: 1 Peter 1:22
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Devotion:
There are so many passages in the Bible to choose from when we want to talk about loving someone with brotherly or sisterly love, my favourite being 1 Timothy 5:2 “The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.”

But being able to love people with a love that is not a pretence, a love that is not feigned, a love that is deep and true, one that is without limits yet one that is in all purity is something that we can always aspire toward. Jesus has shown us that it is possible and throughout His ministry we have many examples of the things that people did for love whilst around Him and many of those are recorded in multiple gospels so that we can know they are true. When God created us in His image, it was not a half-hearted attempt at getting things right because God got it right the first time round. We, on the other hand, have never been able to avoid mistakes because we have always had temptations thrown in our path. But does that mean that we should give up and go off to find something else we should be doing? Certainly not! God wants us to continue on seeking the truth and using every opportunity to try to accomplish more through the love that He shares with us and has given to us to share with others.

I thank my God every day that He has given me a heart that is willing to love others and that is willing to reach out to others and offer them love without expecting anything back in return. It is the fact that I can love more each day that drives me on and not the fact that I should ever hope to get anything back in return. Being able to love others gives me more encouragement that others loving me – because I know that when someone does something for me it will not be because I have required it from them but simply because they want to love me back just a little more than they used to.

Being able to show people how much they mean to me by giving them the Gospel is the most rewarding part of my life that I have ever had. Being able to show people God’s love, which goes so far beyond anything I can show them, it enlightening to say the least. This Easter I want you to think about the love that Christ has shown us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you offer a clean love?

Did Christ impose a price on His love?