Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – February 19, 2017
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Why is love the greatest out of three worthy contenders? It is the greatest because it is God, for He is love (1 John 4:8). The apex of God’s attributes is love. This is why you go to God first for love. He is the lover of your soul, and the love of God far exceeds earth’s limited love. This is the reason you look to Jesus as the supreme example of how to love. He says the two greatest commands hinge on love (Matthew 22:37-39). Love is God’s gold standard; it rises above other compelling character traits such as faith and hope. Love is the theme that covers your character, seasons your service for Christ, and flavors your faith. It gives off a sweet aroma through trust, and gives gusto to grace.
Love adds heat to hope, potency to patience, and spice to selflessness. It brings brilliant technicolor to life, in contrast to our otherwise bland black-and-white loveless living. You can serve, provide for your families, cook a meal, feed the poor, attend church, and even worship; but if these lack love, you lose. You lose the blessing of God and you lose heaven’s reward because your motivation was not for your Master, Jesus Christ. Love is the greatest because it aligns your heart with Almighty God and is not lacking.
You are the greatest when you love because it draws attention to Jesus. Hands down, heaven is happiest over your unconditional and relentless love. So meditate on love as you rise in the morning, work during the day, and eat dinner with your family at night. Your spouse longs to be loved; this is their greatest need from you. So love them lavishly in ways they want to be loved. Think often on love, and your actions will begin to follow your thoughts. What drives you? Is it love?
Make love your motivation, and your happiness will spill over on to others. Love jump-starts joy and prolongs peace; it decreases pride and increases humility. Therefore, love long and hard, love unbiased and unencumbered, love early and love late. Love the rich, the poor, and everyone in between. Love during the good times and the bad. Love the deserving and undeserving. Linger long in your love, and you will be a lasting influence for the Lord.
Lastly, great love takes on different forms. Your situation may require tough love, full of accountability and action. Or your friend may be crying out for tender love, rich in encouragement and lots of listening. Pray for God’s wisdom and discernment on how to love, then trust Him with its application. Your greatest contribution to mankind is love on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your greatest gift to God and others is love. Because He loved you first, you can love (I John 4:19). God is great, and He makes you great with love. You are your greatest when you get and give love. Therefore, by the grace of God, seek to be a great lover. Love is the greatest in God’s eyes, so how do we become the greatest—by loving well.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I receive Your great love, so I might be a great lover on Your behalf.Application
Who can I help love through their difficult time?Related Reading
Today’s reading is taken from Boyd’s most popular book: Seeking Daily the Heart of God, a 365 day devotional.Post/Tweet today
The apex of God’s attributes is love. This is why we go to God first for love. He is the lover of our soul. #wisdomhunters #greatloveWorship Resource
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Great devotional, awesome worship song.
I’ve been reading you for years and years; this may be the best one EVER!! And there are plenty from which to choose!! Well done!
I can’t tell you how much encouragement was received from this writing. It is easy to love the lovely but the real test is putting yourself out there for the “unlovely”. We have the perfect example in Jesus and countless others in God’s Word. So easy to write people off when you’ve been hurt but love will pray for those who’ve hurt you and will be richly rewarded. Thank you again…I receive so much encouragement from my Wisdom Hunter’s app. A true gift!
Dear Tawn,
Thank you for your enthusiastic encouragement after reading “How to Become the Greatest”. Please know that Boyd will read these comments and will be blessed by them. We give all the glory to God!!
We are so grateful that you have been in the Wisdom Hunter’s family for awhile now and have enjoyed other devotionals. It is always such a gift for us to hear from a member of our Wisdom Hunter’s family, so THANK YOU for taking the time.
We look forward to hearing from you again in the future.
Blessings to you and yours,
Gwynne
“After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor
of His holiness, as they went out at the head of the army saying:
Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21
Dear Dawn,
Thank you so much for reaching out to us with your kind response after reading “How to Become the Greatest”. Please know that Boyd will read you encouraging words and will be blessed by them. We give all the glory to our Heavenly Father!
Dawn, you were so right when you stated “It is easy to love the lovely but the real test is putting yourself out there for the ‘unlovely’.” It is so true, yet we need to be reminded. And what a precious role model we have in our God. HE IS LOVE.
We are so grateful that you are part of the Wisdom Hunter’s family and we look forward to hearing from you again. Keep shining His Light, Dawn, with His Love!!
Believing and trusting~
Gwynne
P.S. I love your email address “heavenbound” for sure!
“Test me O Lord and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.”
Pslam 26:2-3