Day 3
True
Love Takes Time
People talk about instantly
falling in love with someone but the reality is that that is just
infatuation. There is more to love than
that. How can we love someone who we
know next to nothing about? Real love
takes time.
As you know we all have flaws,
no one is perfect. As we get to know
someone, we discover those imperfections.
Some times those things are not imperfections in their life but things
that point out an imperfection in our life and it drives us crazy. Infatuation only sees what it wants to see
and when it does discover a flaw, drops the relationship.
God knows all of our
flaws. You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though
for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans
5:6-8).
Our Love for
God is a developing thing. As we get to
know God, we begin to understand how much He loves us even though we are not
perfect. The depth of that relationship
can grow beyond anything you could possible imagine at this point in your life.
“Love is
patient, love
is kind.” (1 Corinthians 13:4a). God gives us the power and ability to love
others. We can love the lost too. We have experienced God’s forgiveness, grace,
and patience. We know how much He loves
us. We can demonstrate God’s love to the
lost.
Do you remember what it was like when you
first became a Christian? Do you remember
the “Joy
of your Salvation”? (Psalm 51:12) Did you instantly become a mature
Christian? No, God has patience with us,
that is the way He works in our lives.
He has given us the Holy Sprit to guide us. (John
14:16-17) And I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the
Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept
him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he
lives with you and will be in you.
We do not need to change them into a copy of
what we think a Christian should look like.
We can let the Holy Spirit show them the things that need to change in
their lives. We just need to come along
beside them, demonstrating God’s love, compassion and patience, as they develop
a loving relationship with God.(John
3:18) Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with
actions and in truth.
Questions for Reflection
The devotional reads:
We do not need to
change them into a copy of what we think a Christian should look like. We can let the Holy Spirit show them the
things that need to change in their lives.
We just need to come along beside them, demonstrating God’s love,
compassion and patience, as they develop a loving relationship with God.
How do you
respond to this? Have you found yourself
wanting to make people into what you prefer a Christian to be? Has it happened to you?
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Meditate on the
following Scripture:
You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though
for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8).
What is the Lord
impressing upon you from the passage above?
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Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this
devotional, write out a prayer to God. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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