This verse is a bit daunting to me. Trying to love as God loves is a tall order. I am glad that God tells us how. John 15 tells me that I need to abide in God to be able to obey His commands. I know God’s Word is powerful, but I am still often amazed at what God gives.
I pray you have a love for God’s Word and the desire to read and study as much as possible. We cannot obey God’s commands without consistently abiding in Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the Bible. Thank You for the guidance from Your words to us. Please help us to remember that we can’t love others appropriately without abiding in You.
The apostle Paul wanted the Philippian believers to increase in their love. Sadly, we have seen culture misuse this concept. Society wants to define love their own way. I’m confident that is why the apostle Paul said that the love should abound “with knowledge and all discernment.” Verses 10 and 11 continue the concept, “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Our love needs to be directed by the truth in the Bible (the only source for truth). The only way we can know the truth is to read and study God’s Word. The pursuit of Biblical knowledge is very rewarding.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us absolute truth in the Bible. Please give us an insatiable desire to read and study Your Word. Help us to have discernment to know the truth.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25
I love this passage of Scripture. It reminds children of God that we have confidence in going to our Heavenly Father. Verse 23 is my favorite part – I need to hold fast and God is faithful. I know there are many times I don’t feel as though I can hold without wavering. Yet my loving, heavenly Father is faithful – unwavering.
One help God has provided is other believers. Verses 24-25 tell us what we are to do for each other. God knows we cannot be faithful without other believers. We need to be a network of strength for each other. The end of verse 25 tells us that we need to encourage one another more as time goes on. We need to read and study God’s Word and encourage each other with what we have learned. The more difficult life gets, the more we need to band together – holding each other up.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for giving us instruction in Your Word. Please help us to hold fast and encourage each other to do the same. Please draw us nearer to You each day.
Ephesians tells us to “be imitators of God”. I don’t know any other way to imitate God than to study Who He is through His Word (the Bible). The sentence continues in verse 2 which tells us to “walk in love”. The word love in verse two is the same as the word beloved in verse one. Beloved children should be giving the same love we have received.
I think we get confused about what love really is. Jesus’ love caused Him to sit with “publicans and sinners”. His love also fiercely rebuked the Pharisees. God’s love must be truthful. The full extent of God’s love doesn’t fit in a full set of encyclopedias, let alone a short blog post. I recommend continued study of the Bible to learn more about God’s love.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and the examples we have in Your Word. Please help us to imitate You. Give us the desire to present ourselves as :a fragrant offering and sacrifice”.
Sadly, when I first see the words true love I end up thinking of “The Princess Bride”. The wedding scene when the bishop talks about true love is very quotable. While the idea of movie true love can be attractive, it is nothing in comparison to God’s love.
Today’s verses describe how vast God’s love is. It is too much for human knowledge. That being said, I want to pursue more and more knowledge of the love that can only be measured by an infinite God Who sent His only Son to suffer and pay the penalty for my sin. What wonderous love! I am in awe and amazement.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your wondrous love. Please guide me in studying Your word and seeing Your actions so I can learn more about this love that surpasses knowledge.
Many of us know 1 Corinthians as the love chapter. Love is the main character. When I saw this verse, I thought of wisdom. Verse 6 reminds us that we need to seek the truth of righteousness. The only way we can know true righteousness is through studying the Bible.
We live in a society that does not value absolute truth. I fear we have forgotten some of the truth even in the church. We need to spend time reading and learning God’s Word. Then we need to apply it with the heart of love that 1 Corinthians 13 describes.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us instruction on love and righteousness. Please help me to seek the truth from Your Word and share it with others. I want to share Your truth, the only truth.
Pleading in Prayer 