Devotion
The God-Kind of Love
Chipo Biti
1 Corinthians 13 has always been the go-to portion of the Bible when it comes to defining God's kind of love. God's love far exceeds any other form of love that exists on earth. We often tend to think the love that is shown in books and romantic movies it the kind of love that matters the most. That love is often an inaccurate description of what love is meant to be. Love is not about the butterflies in the belly or the kisses at the end of the movie. The love that the media shows you is nothing compared to the love of God. Paul described God's love in these few lines but these words are powerful.
Love endures long. This means that love is patient beyond all human reasoning. When others choose to walk away, love chooses to remain and be kind. That is exactly what God did for us. He loved us and still loves us through everything - good, bad, and ugly.
Love is not envious and it is not vain. God put us before His interests many times. He could have chosen to protect his feelings by cutting us off, but he didn't. He could have programmed us to follow his every beck and call but He didn't do that either. He stuck to His promise of giving us the ability to choose - even if we chose against Him.
Prayer
Love is not meant to be about finding ways for you to benefit from other people. God did not redeem us to fulfill His selfish intentions. He saved us so that we would not have to go through the horrors and suffering of paying for our own sins. He did this because of His love for us.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity but always rejoices in the truth. God has always been truthful with His people, no matter what. He is for us and He corrects us when need be. Not only that but he has borne many things with us, believed in us, and always hoped for the best.
Where the words of man have failed, God's love has never failed.
It never has and it never will. We can always be confident of that.
Night Prayer
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Inspiration
We cannot surrender part of our lives to serve the Lord; we must surrender it all. We see multiple occurrences in the New Testament when Jesus says, 'follow me,' met with an excuse or other business that needed to be taken care of first. We like to think that, given the opportunity, we would follow immediately, but that may not be true. We put many earthly activities before the Lord. We make idols of technology, sports, and other activities or people. These secondary priorities cause us to wander away from the Lord instead of closer to Him. We must analyze our walk closely and remove all stumbling blocks that distract us from the Lord.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we want to serve You with all our hearts. Help us analyze our lives and remove stumbling blocks that slow our walk with You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
