God is love

Friday, December 20, 2013 (7:11 a.m.)

Blessed Father God,

“Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting” (1 Corinthians 13:7 Contemporary English Version). A lot of translations say this many different ways. I ask You, how is that ever possible for us?

YOU love like that. You are perfect. You ARE love (1John 4:8). And we're made in your image, but still we struggle. We try. We fail. We remember. We work. So how do You and I proceed this morning?

I came here wanting to talk with You about loyalty. Faithfulness. Believing all things. My humanness keeps me asking, “Yeah. But what about...?” We set limits of what and how much we are willing to take. “No one's going to make a fool out of me.”

Thank You that Your Word reminds us what love is. Your Word is paramount. It calls us to trust and to forgive. And it reminds us that it's not up to us to do it on our own. You sent Your Son to teach and guide and direct each of us.

So here I am, confessing to You that I can't love as You command. In and of myself I am not the attributes listed here in 1Corinthians 13:4-7. Ah, but You are! And I love You. You work miracles in us every day. Continue Your work in me I pray.

Father, there are people in my life that I say I love, yet I hold them at arms length. Reminders of past encounters keep me from trusting. Believing. Expecting the best. Standing my ground to defend. This is not how Your Word teaches me to behave.

So what do we do with common sense? Once burned, twice shy? Circumstances change, not always so people.

“Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct direct Your path” (Proverbs 3:5-6). And right there in the margin, in my own printing, “2-25-96 God asks, 'Are you trusting me?'”

To this I must say, “YES!” Father, I DO trust You to do in and through me all that I am incapable of doing and being on my own. YOU lead. I will continue doing my very best to follow. My best will never be perfect. But You are!

The Life Recovery Bible devotion entitled Love says, “Love is more than a feeling. It is a choice of behaviors that grows in our life; it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, produced in our life as we yield to God... This passage (1Corinthians 13:4-7) is a description of how God loves us. As we begin to absorb His love, we will find ourself reaching out to love again.”

I am asking You Father to continue teaching me to “not only love much but well” (Philippians 1:9). The end section of the devotion mentioned above says, “No one loves perfectly, but we must not give up on loving. We can accept the responsibility to love others and stop waiting for them to love us, playing the victim. We cannot expect to be good at loving right away; we can be patient as God's love grows within us. When we choose to act in loving ways, the emotions will follow, and we will find that love comes back to us.”

Father, I trust YOU! You are love and I trust You to do all with me that You have planned. There are far more things that I don't understand than those I do. What I do understand at this very moment is that when I substitute “God” for “love” in Your Word, it all reads True.

“God is patient and kind... God is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. God never fails!” (1Corinthians 13:4a; 7-8a). Thank You Father. Thank You that You are love and that You created us in Your image to be like You.

Do all You must in and through me this day. I love You. I thank You. Amen.

(670 words ~ 8:23 a.m.)