“Give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.”
Galatians 6:10 (NCV) The Bible says in Galatians 6:10, “Give special attention to those who are in the family of believers” (NCV). So why do people in God’s family get special attention? Because whatever you pay attention to is going to grow. If you pay attention to your garden, it’s going to grow. If you pay attention to your kids, they’re going to grow. If you pay attention to your marriage, it’s going to grow. If you pay attention to your work, it’s going to grow. What is the greatest gift of love? It’s not diamonds, flowers, or chocolate. The greatest gift of love you can give is focused attention. You can affirm people just by looking them in the eye, which essentially tells them, “I value you. What you have to say is important to me, because you matter to me.” What people want more than anything else is focused attention. They want to know that their thoughts matter, that their lives matter, that they are valuable. The core of relationships is not what we do for each other or the things we give to each other. The heart of relationships is how much of ourselves we give to each other. Many men might say, “I don’t understand it. I provide everything my family needs. I give my wife everything she needs. I give my kids everything they need. What more do they want?” They want you! They want your time. They want your attention. They want your focus. They want to know that you think they matter. Nothing can replace time. Kids don’t need things; they need time. Marriages need time, and friendships need time, and small groups need time. Look for opportunities to show attention to the people in your life. That is the greatest gift of love you can give. But don’t just wait for it to happen; you have to make opportunities to show attention. If you have to put it in your schedule, do it. If you have to give up Netflix time, do it. If it means putting off housework, do it. If you have to make sacrifices, do it. Do whatever you need to do to give your relationships attention. It is essential to their growth!
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“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid . . . this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
1 John 4:18 (NLT) Insecurity ruins relationships. But when you open your life to others, even though they could potentially hurt you, you’ll come alive in ways you’ve never experienced before. Why does insecurity ruin relationships? Because it prevents intimacy. You long to be close, but you also fear being close. You long to have intimacy with others, but it also scares you to death. You can’t get close to someone if there’s fear in the relationship. This is why living with your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t work in the long run. There’s no lifetime commitment. You never know when somebody is going to walk out. But fear vanishes and intimacy—real intimacy—rises when two people say, “We’re committed to each other, no matter what. We’re going to make this thing work.” What do you fear in your relationships? Maybe you don’t want people to find out what you’re really like, so you hide yourself. This is the oldest fear, going all the way back to Adam, the first man. He said, “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10 NIV). When you’re afraid, you get insecure and hide who you are. You cover up, not just physically but also emotionally. You build walls around yourself and pretend to be someone you’re not. But while insecurity ruins relationships, love builds them up. Love takes the focus off you and puts the focus on the other person. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid . . . this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love” (NLT). The only way to love others is to realize that God loves you more than you can ever imagine. Suddenly, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone anymore. You don’t have to be concerned about what others think because you’re in a relationship with Jesus, secure in the Grace of God. You may have had some relational disasters in your life. In order to open up to others and fight insecurity, God wants you to first open up to Jesus. Let him fill you with his love so you can share it with others. “We must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.”
1 John 3:18 (GW) It’s easy to go through life stressed and overloaded. But getting your relationships right is one significant way to reduce the stress you feel. Yesterday we looked at one truth about life and relationships: The best use of life is love. Today we’ll look at a second truth: The best expression of love is time. You may think that love is spelled L-O-V-E. But a better way to spell love is this: T-I-M-E. The Bible says in 1 John 3:18, “We must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words” (GW). When you love someone, do you know what gift you desire most from them? Their focused attention. When I love you, I want to see your eyes. I want to talk. I want to listen. I want to commune. I want to fellowship. I want you! The greatest gift you can give anyone is your time—because your time is your life. Time is your most precious commodity. You only have a certain amount of it. God has already decided the number of days you are going to live; you’re not going to get any more. You can always get more money, but you cannot get more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving that person a portion of your life that you will never get back. That’s why your time is the greatest gift you can give. Many people are in time-starved relationships. They may live in the same home, but they’re passing each other like ships in the night. Even though they give a goodbye kiss here and there, their relationship is shriveling. It’s drying up for lack of attention. Many things can rob a relationship. Work can rob a relationship. Activity can rob a relationship. Too much church involvement or ministry can rob a relationship. Even hobbies can rob a relationship. You may wonder, “How can I find more time for those I love?” Start by turning off the TV, unplugging the computer, and putting down your phone! It’s amazing to me that people spend so much time in the virtual world while neglecting the people right beside them. If you want to revitalize a dying relationship, a dying marriage, or a dying friendship, start with investing more of yourself by giving the gift of your time. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) Everything in life changes—relationships, jobs, health, finances. But there’s one thing in the universe that will never change: God’s love. God loves you, no matter what. Your failures, your brokenness, and your sin can never diminish his love. Knowing you can count on God’s love provides a rock-solid foundation for your life. The Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16, says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (NIV). Consider the small word “so” that goes before “loved” in that verse. “So” suggests the extravagance of God’s love. God loves you with a generous, extravagant love that can never be taken away. It’s beyond comprehension. He loves you on your good days and your bad days. He loves you when you sin and when you are faithful to him. It’s important that you don’t just recognize this lavish love intellectually. You need to recognize it emotionally, to really understand it deep down in your spirit. Love is God’s nature. God created the universe and everything in it just so that he could love it. And God created you so he could love you. In fact, in Jesus, God shows what real love, his love, looks like. The Bible says, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NLT). Many people say they love you. But God showed you how much he loves you. He loves you so much that it hurt. He sacrificed his Son. When Jesus died for you, he was saying he loved you so much he’d rather die than live without you. The Bible says that’s what real love—the kind of love that you can build your life on—looks like. Real love makes sacrifices. Real love gives all. Real love endures for all eternity. That’s the kind of love only God has for you. He’s waiting with open arms to show you his goodness, mercy, and love. “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.”
Romans 8:38-39 (TLB) No matter how bad life gets, you can rest in one important truth: God won’t stop loving you. You’ll have things go right. You’ll have things go wrong. But God’s love will never end. You can count on that. In fact, that truth should be one of the most important sources of joy in your life! The Bible says it like this in Romans 8:38-39: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are — high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean — nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us” (TLB). That’s good news. When you put your hand in God’s hand, he grabs it and won’t let go. God holds on to you with all he has. You’ll have times in your life when you’ll want to let go of God’s hand. You’ll want to give up your commitment to Christ when times get tough. But God won’t let go of you—ever. Once you put your hand in his, it’s there to stay. If you could earn your salvation, you could lose it the moment you stopped working for it. But you didn’t earn your relationship with God. It was a free gift. Once it has been given, it can’t be taken back. That’s an unimaginable source of joy for any believer. “The Lord takes pleasure in his people."
Psalm 149:4 (GNT) God created you to love you. The Bible doesn’t say God has love. The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 ESV). Love is the essence of his nature. The Bible says, “For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (Revelation 4:11 NLT). Everything was created because God gets enjoyment out of it. He wanted to love it. God loves every rock, every plant, every animal, every star, and every human being. As Psalm 149:4 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people” (GNT). God takes pleasure in you all the time. Why? He created you. He’s your heavenly Father. Some people think God is only smiling at them when they’re doing something “religious.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God gets pleasure in watching you be you because he made you you. God planned you for his pleasure, and he wants you to learn to love him back. Jesus gave the ultimate summary of the Bible when asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36 NIV). Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV). Life is all about love. If you don’t get that, you’ve missed the first purpose of your life—to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Before your feet touch the ground each morning, you might pray this: “Dear God, it’s another day. And if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know you a little bit better, and I want to love you a little bit more.” If you find yourself at the end of an awful day—full of your own mistakes, sin, grief, and pain—but you recognize that you’ve learned to love God just a little bit more, your day isn’t a waste. You’re doing exactly what God made you to do. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
John 8:36 (NIV) The world defines freedom as a life without any restraint. It’s an attitude that says, “I can do anything I want to do and say anything I want to say, without anybody telling me what to do.” With that kind of mindset, everybody else may get burned by you, but you get to do it your own way. That’s the world’s kind of freedom—you get your freedom, but only by being totally selfish. But the Bible says the only way to true freedom is through Jesus: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36 NIV). God sent Jesus to proclaim and deliver freedom from the sin that keeps you trapped in a cycle of anger, envy, greed, sexual immorality, broken relationships, unforgiveness, and selfishness. With true freedom, you’re set free from fear, guilt, worry, bitterness, and death. You’re free to quit pretending, because you’re free to be yourself. How do you get rid of fear and find real freedom in Jesus? By letting God love you! The Apostle John teaches this: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18 NIV). When you realize how much God loves you, you’ll begin to live and rest in that love. And when you live in God’s love, you’re free—free to see life from his point of view and live the way he meant you to live. You learn that freedom isn’t something you demand or earn; it’s a gift from God. In fact, living in God’s love is an act of worship. When you agree that God is loving, caring, and generous and begin to trust in that love, you worship him. As 1 John 4:16 says, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love” (NLT). “Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up."
1 Corinthians 13:7 (GW) If you are a follower of Christ, you must love everybody in the same way that Christ loves you. That means you are to accept them completely, love them unconditionally, forgive them totally, and consider them extremely valuable—whether you like them or not. It’s not an option or a suggestion. It’s a command: “Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34 NLT). Loving others in this way will transform your relationships! The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up” (GW). That’s how God loves you. He never stops being patient with you. He never stops believing in you. He never stops hoping for the best in your life. He never gives up on you. And God wants you to love others the same way. Love never stops being patient. Love extends grace. You can offer grace to others. Love never stops believing. Love expresses faith. Love allows you to say, “Even though we’re having a tough time, I will never stop believing in you.” Love never stops hoping. Love expects the best. Are you expecting the best in your primary relationships, or have you settled for less than best? Love never gives up. Love endures the worst. With love, you can say, “You can throw everything at me, but I’m going to keep loving you, no matter what.” If you want to start transforming your relationships today, you might consider praying something similar to below: “Dear God, I admit that I have made a mess in my relationships. They’re complicated and broken, and I’ve often settled for less than best. They need a transformation. I want you to begin by changing me. Deliver me from my fears, because I can see how they make me distant, defensive, and even demanding. Today, and every day from now on, I want to surrender my heart to you. I want to learn to live my life dwelling in and filled with your love. “Help me to accept others, just as you’ve accepted me. Help me to love others unconditionally, just as you have loved me. Help me to forgive others totally, just as you’ve forgiven me. And help me to value others as much as you value me. Help me to extend grace to and express faith in the people around me. Help me to expect the best in others, and when the worst happens, help me to endure it with grace. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.” “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end."
Isaiah 54:10 (GNT) If you don’t feel loved by God, you’ll struggle to show love to others. Loving people is easy when you understand and remember the way God loves you. Every day, you need to remind yourself what God thinks about you—not what the world thinks or what you think about yourself. Here are four things God thinks about you to help you remember why and how to love others: You’re completely accepted. You may have spent much of your life trying to earn acceptance from your parents, peers, those you respect, those you envy, and even total strangers. But you need to realize God has already settled this issue of acceptance: “Jesus . . . made us acceptable to God” (Titus 3:7 CEV). What Jesus did on the cross made you completely acceptable to God—no matter what you’ve done or will do. You’re unconditionally loved. God doesn’t say, “I love you if . . .” or “I love you because . . .” He says, “I love you—period!” You can’t make God stop loving you, because his love isn’t based on what you do but on who he is. Isaiah 54:10 says, “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end” (GNT). You’re totally forgiven. Because Jesus died on the cross and gave his life as payment for your sins, you are totally forgiven when you accept God’s gift of forgiveness. Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT). God doesn’t rehearse your sins; he releases them. You’re extremely valuable. The value of something is created by two things: who the owner is and what somebody’s willing to pay for it. You are a child of God and “have been bought and paid for by Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:23 TLB). Jesus Christ paid for you with his life. That’s how valuable you are. When you remember that you are accepted, loved, forgiven, and valuable to the Creator of the universe, you will be better equipped to show love to others. “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory."
Romans 15:7 (NLT) Did you know that every time you show love, you give glory to God? Here’s how it works. Every time you show what God is like, you give him glory. And God is love. So when you love, you show God’s glory. God says, “I am loving. I am compassionate. I want you to be like me. I want you to develop my character.” You’re never going to be God. But God wants you to become godly. He wants you to develop his character—like father like son, like father like daughter. He wants you to learn to love people the way he loves people. There are many ways to love like God does. One way to love other people is by accepting them. Romans 15:7 says, “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory” (NLT). God wants you to accept everyone—no matter what. Does that mean you have to approve of everything they do? Of course not! There’s a difference between acceptance and approval. While God loves and accepts you unconditionally, he doesn’t approve of everything you do. It should be the same for you. You can accept everyone without approving of everything they do. Love is not saying, “I approve of everything you do.” Love is saying, “I accept you in spite of what you do.” With every person you encounter today, take the opportunity to give God glory by loving as he loves—with unconditional acceptance. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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