‘Love never fails…’ 1 Corinthians 13:8 NIV
Forming a negative opinion based on appearance takes less than seven seconds. As Thelma Wells says: ‘It’s easy to do when someone doesn’t look, sound, shake hands, or think like you. However, John says, "…Anyone who does not love his brother…cannot love God…" (1 John 4:20 NIV) We cannot love God if we harbour bad feelings towards others. We’re more than flesh – we’re spiritual beings – and our God-given gifts, character, values, intellect, and passions are the foundation of who we are, not our height, weight, mannerisms, hair colour and age. When we realise God loves us even though He doesn’t like some of our attitudes and actions, it becomes easier to love others. When we realise our negative feelings towards others get in the way of our love for God, it becomes easier to love. And when we’re in communion with our Creator, asking Him to give us His eyes and heart …it becomes easier to love. Jesus said, "…If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them…" (Luke 6:31 NIV) It may never be easy to love certain people, but when you make the tough choice to love them anyway, the rewards are always worth it.’ The Bible says, ‘Love never fails,’ and when you refuse to love you miss out on God’s best. One Bible teacher says: ‘Don’t miss out on any of it… God is love, and when you release love, you release God, and He becomes responsible for the outcome. Release love every moment into every situation, every prayer and every thought… It will strengthen…and cast out fear… it’s the one solution that always works.’
SoulFood: Num 4:34-6:27, Mt 10:11-20, Ps 104:24-35, Prov 3:11-12
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2014
