Jesus told His disciples to love one another “as I have loved you” (John 13:34). That wouldn’t be so hard if the love Jesus displayed was primarily the write-a-cheque or call-once-a-month kind of love. But Jesus set the bar immeasurably high. Jesus’ kind of love touched the skin of a leper and washed the feet of a soon-to-be betrayer. He didn’t mind interruption by another’s demands, even those of a person all others disdained. Jesus had the uncanny ability to look straight into a person’s soul to see the deepest need there.
Is that an impossible example to follow? You bet it is! That’s why God sent the Holy Spirit to live inside us and empower us with His supernatural love. Only when “plugged in” to that power will His followers stand out in their treatment of others and of one another. Then people will take notice and say, “My, how they love one another!” Let these resources set you on the path of loving with the Saviour’s love.
Song of Solomon is a unique type of poetic Hebrew literature. It exhibits the literary characteristics of something known as a pastoral love song, which is different from allegory, drama, historical narrative, and parable.
Three little words. Because they are often hard to say, because we so easily forget, we need to stay in practice. Todd would give everything he owns to be able to say them to Gus tonight.
The quality that distinctively sets apart believers as followers of Jesus is not a pithy bumper sticker or a fish emblem dangling from a necklace or a gilded dove pinned on the lapel. These are only symbols of our faith. The true mark of a Christian is love.
There is something extra special about February. Valentine’s Day. Hearts and flowers. A fresh and needed reminder that there is still a heart-shaped vacuum in the human breast that only the three most wonderful words in the English language can fill.
Jesus confronted the very thing I’m most afraid of: being rejected for being your authentic self. In the face of unbelief, Jesus stood firm. He was confident in His person and certain of what was true.
We may take God as He really is or reject Him on the same basis, but the one opinion not open to us is to create Him as we’d like Him to be. He is and has always been the God of love and justice in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the words of Ephesians 4:32, be kind. My sister Luci paraphrases this verse, “Just be nice."
Doing acts of kindness feels great as well as it makes the world or another person’s day a bit better. So I wonder why being kind isn’t second nature to me.
Christ died for us to give us eternal life. How can we not show grace and compassion to others knowing this? Compassion is a direct result of accepting Christ into our hearts.
Thinking about the New Testament and its focus on acting on our faith has prompted conviction in my heart. There is so much more I could be doing but don’t because of laziness, fear, and selfishness.
Sign up to receive Chuck Swindoll’s Daily Devotional in your inbox seven days per week.
Insight for Living is committed to excellence in communicating the truths of Scripture and the Person of Jesus Christ in an accurate, clear, and practical manner so that people will come to an understanding of God’s plan for their lives, as well as their significant role as authentic Christians in a needy, hostile, and desperate world.
1-30445 Progressive Way • Abbotsford, BC • V2T 6W3
info@insightforliving.ca
1.800.663.7639