Thursday Reading: Genesis 1 26-31

Key Verse: Genesis 1 27
27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Devotion:
How should we go about living a life that is full of love? Why should we? Because that is exactly what Jesus has told us that we should be doing – that we should be loving our partners, family, friends, neighbours and even our enemies! Why would Jesus expect such a high calling from us? Why should He expect us to love those people that hate us or abuse us? Because of the simple reason that He loved us first…

When God created us, it was not a random choice, a flick of the wrist to see what happened or any other random event. God specifically made us in His own image. In other words, we have been created so that we can love others – just the same way as God finds that love for everyone, we too should be able to find it. He loved us when we were sinners. He loved us before we knew Him. He loved us before we even realised anything. But when we do see the light and recognise that love, we then like to be able to return that love – that is all He is asking for; because love will accomplish an amazing amount of things in our lives.

When we look at how much God is willing to forgive in our lives, or even in the lives of others, then we begin to realise a bit more about this thing called love. If God is willing to forgive even more than we can imagine, then we can know with all our hearts that the love that He has for us goes far beyond any description we may have come up with for love. So let us not try to label love as one things or another but to embrace it as something that we will continue learning about each and every day that we live with Christ in our lives.

That then brings me toward thinking that there is another aspect of being in God’s image that we need to take care of and that is that we need Him in our lives at all times. In order to be able to continue identifying the things we should be doing in love we need to be able to identify what God would do in those circumstances; and that means keeping Him close at all times. The more we are able to live close to Him, the more we are able to live close to His ideals and to His standards. Yes we will always break the rules and fall flat on our faces – but that is just part of us being human and being sinners. God continues to lift us up and to bring us back to His side as long as we are willing to listen to Him and obey Him. What love the Father has for us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are so different?

Are you living for God?

Wednesday Reading: Luke 7 44-48

Key Verse: Luke 7 47
47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Devotion:
You may wonder why we should look at a passage like this when we are thinking about love, but when we remember that love is not a one-way street but something that needs a person to give and a person to receive, then we may start to recognise a few more things about love. Love is not just the intense emotion that one has for someone else – that is a dictionary meaning of the English noun. I don’t like to limit love to being a dictionary explanation or even a poetic explanation; but love to me is an all-encompassing institution that will not be broken down by some simple faults.

Simple faults? Hang on a sec, was not this woman a woman of the city who had been up to all manner of things? Yes, but it was what was now in her heart that made the big difference. Christ had seen inside her and had recognised that love that any Christian should and must have for God; that love that knows no bounds. We always like to set limits on the things that we will do or the things that we should do. This world has become so “politically correct” that we are no longer allowed to show our love in fear of being labelled as someone who takes advantage of others.

What this woman did was to come to Jesus in all humility. To lay down her life before Him and to set aside any pride that she would have displayed in her life in the city. She opened up her heart with all sincerity and invited Christ in, permanently. That was, and is, a great display of love; one that we should look at and wonder whether we have that inside of us. We also like to put a price on everything, not just things that we buy and sell or bargain for, but also the things that we do wrong or even right. We like to think that they balance each other out in some way so that we can end up being “OK”.

That is not what the woman did. She laid it all down before Christ in a single step and not expecting anything back. Yes, she wanted forgiveness. But her actions were not “I’ll do this if you forgive me” but rather “her I am with all my faults, please forgive me”. When we seek out love or want to display our love, we should not be going out to bargain with others so that we can get something out of it – we should simply offer all we have and expect nothing back. Love will return, maybe not immediately, but it will return because God will never let it rest.

Points to Ponder:
Are you always seeking bargains and deals?

Do you really think you can bargain with God?

Tuesday Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 8-13

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 13 13
13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Devotion:
One of those things that God has taught me is that love does not ever end. No matter what happens in our lives, when we do find love that is true, pure and honest, it will always stand and will not fade. This may be a hard thing to understand or to follow because no matter what we look at in our lives we see things that do not last forever. We see great men, great countries and even great empires dwindle over time because they always have faults, cracks or weaknesses. True love will not go that same way.

Does that mean that we will always get it right and will always find a love that is true? I fear not because we are the weak link that will fail and that will give in when things should remain strong. We are the ones that will make the bad judgment call in the beginning or the ones who will follow temptation and break our covenant over time rather than standing by what is honest and true.

God has given us many things which make up the complex entities we call man. He created us in His image with the ability to make decisions for ourselves, but He has also given us many instructions and so much guidance that we should not ignore. But love is one of those feelings which tend to take control of our lives rather than us being in control of it. Love is where we most need God’s guidance and most need the wisdom He has shared with us through His Word.

Many people would beg to differ and say that love does change and does end but I put it to you that we change in what we look for instead. When we see what others around are doing we do get side-tracked and we do think of what else is around us. But if the love that we have is true, then none of that should change what we have other than making it stronger. It is always a hard pill to swallow to have to admit that you made a mistake, but walking away from a mistake with your pride hurt is going to be better than living a lie to save your pride. No matter which way you look at it, love is not something that should be rushed and is not something to be taken lightly. Before we find out about love, be it through trial or through joy, we are learning all the time and we need to take note of those things that God allows us to experience so that we can aim to live our love with Him. Yes I do mean live our love with Him as well as to live our lives with Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you include others in your love?

Do you include God in your love?

Monday Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 4-7

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 13 5
5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Devotion:
One of the things that we have to learn about when we are young is this thing called love. We hear what others say out it, we learn what others do for it and we think that we experience it because we find something so special in some people that we are willing to do things we never have before. But far too often we find out about true love when it is a bit too late all because nobody actually spent a little time digging into love and explaining that it is so very much more than just a feeling you have for someone else!

One of the things that gets to hurt us is when we think we are in love and it all goes pear shaped and we find out the hard way that what we thought was love was not there on both sides... I thank my God that He has given me time to reflect on my life, time to catch up on things and time to explore what love actually is without having to experience too much loss or rejection – some would say that that is largely due to me not getting involved in the first place, but I rather look at it as me learning through God’s Word and His time in my life.

When we do think that we are in love, jumping in with both feet is not always the best action to take until we have understood more about love and what it entails. I know that I have jumped into the deep end without thinking in my life and things have ended without me learning much in the short term because I have been too caught up in the buzz of what is happening in the here and now rather than planning for the future.

Being able to take heed from God’s Word and learn more about what love entails before getting into the water is often prudent even when others will tell you that you need to jump in and swim. Knowing what love really entails will allow us to know whether what we feel is really love or whether it is just something we want to be love. With love we will be able to put up with more, be more willing to help, will not make us jealous, will not make us show off, will not make us boast, will not make us do things that we ought not to and will not make us want for more. Instead love will always seek out and live in truth, trust, hope and endurance, reaching out to make bonds that will not break and will last throughout time. I thank God that He has shown me this insight into His love so that I may seek it and live it.

Points to Ponder:
What is Love to you?

Have you looked at God’s enduring love?