Devotion
It’s All About Love
Chipo Biti
Jesus gave us the most important commandments that we are to live out in our lives as Christians. The first one: We are to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds. The second one being that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It should be no surprise that the greatest commandments of all have to do with love. Everything that is to do with God is all about love. God created us out of love and He redeemed us out of love. We are where we are, as His children, because of the love of God.
You cannot be a child of God if you do not have the love of God in your heart. But the love of God is not just about saying that you have it. It has to be evident in your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. You may not have it all figured out but you will learn as you go. This is why we have the Bible - it helps us grow in the knowledge of God and what His love really means. We express our love for God through communicating with Him regularly, studying His word, and obeying His commands.
We also express our love for God through loving people. There is no way you can claim to love God if you harbor resentment and hatred against people. It can be hard to let go of the hurtful things that people have done to us, but forgiveness sets us free. Forgiveness is a godly action because we are emulating what God did for us. God is more than capable of healing our brokenness and helping us find the strength to forgive those who have wronged us.
Prayer
God's love guides us on how to love our neighbors - both believers and non-believers. We love our fellow believers because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ - we are family. We love non-believers because they need that love - even if they do not realize it. The love we give them will show them that there is a God who loves them and desires to be a part of their lives.
Love keeps all things godly together. That is why we are to treasure it and treat is as the powerful, life-changing force that it is.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
