“A child of love is unoffendable, by thanking God and forgiving simultaneously while experiencing tough situations.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 2, 2021
But when the right time came, the time God decided on, he sent his Son, born of a woman, born as a Jew, to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own sons. And because we are his sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, so now we can rightly speak of God as our dear Father. Galatians 4:4-6, The Living Bible
My wife Rita and I have friends who adopted three infants years ago, not siblings, but similar ages. In many ways our selfless friends rescued these precious little ones from a life of very limited love—to a family full of Jesus and His limitless love. The road of raising them was rocky, yet radically rewarding—since great love many times produces the fruit of greater blessings. Sadly, one child who seemed to have the most promise—decided as an older teenager to go back to his pre-adoptive life. He traded his life of love for a life of fear, pain and problems. Why? Competing loves seem attractive—curious in the beginning but in the end birth heartache.
Paul reminds his readers of the beautiful gift of love God gave all of His creation by sending His son Jesus to free us from our slavery to sin; our divine bridge of love to bring us to the Lord of love. Adopted as a child of light and love— by grace through faith, no longer held captive as a child of darkness and fear. The Holy Spirit came to live in us, so He can do a work through us, as a broker of love for our heavenly Father’s heart. Now as children of love, we spend a lifetime learning how to be loved and to love. Our pre-adoptive life is tempting to revisit, but only leads to distorted loves of disastrous proportion. Adopted children of love freely grow a deeper love.
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
As a child of love, are you led by the Spirit of love? A child of love embraces her full approval from the God of love—not stressing over meeting everyone’s expectations. A child of love is secure in the Lord’s unfailing love—not bound up in fear of what might happen. A child of love is free to radically follow the Son of love, Jesus—and not miss His best by playing it too safe. A child of love discerns deeper truths by the Spirit of love—dismissing the lies and deceit of the devil. A child of love joyfully loves his enemies—letting go of merciless anger. A child of love is unoffendable, thanking God and forgiving simultaneously while experiencing tough situations.
Remember you are an adopted child of love—no need to flirt with what you might be missing from your past life. Unfriend or better yet do not friend an old high school flame on social media. Avoid putting yourself in compromising situations, and instead seek the intimacy of a deeper love with the God of love. The allure of competing affections and distorted love fades in the face of seeing more clearly the loving, gentle face of Jesus. Contemplative prayer is quietly trusting that silence is the love language of God. Full immersion most effectively masters fluency. You are a child of love who is loved to the fullest by pure love, so you can love impure people!
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much” (Luke 6:31-33, NLT)!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, lead me as your child by your tender love, so I in turn can broker your love to others, through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
Who in my life is not deserving of love (even my enemy) who I can love in a way that points them to Jesus?
Related Reading
Ruth 4:15; Psalm 119:97; Matthew 5:46; Ephesians 3:18; 1 Peter 1:22
Worship Resource
We The Kingdom – Child of Love
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