Julie
Active Member
Motivated by Love
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13
Love is the highest and best motivation. Like contestants in a beauty pageant, faith and hope accompany love as the top three finalists, but love is crowned the winner. It reigns because it brings out the very best in the lover and the one being loved. Similar to an invisible force field, love protects us from ourselves and compels us to give ourselves to others. It generates goodwill and garners trust. Love is the pinnacle of the Lord’s expectations because it points to Christ.
Love is loyal when most are disloyal. Love steps up when some step away. Love believes the best and doesn’t think to assume the worse. Love looks out for the interests of loved ones above its own needs. Love always loves—when unloved, when lonely, and when loved. Love loves the unlovely, the unconcerned, and the underutilized.
Love looks for potential where impatience is disappointed. Love is the Lord’s lubricant that causes relationships to run smoothly.
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
What is your primary reason for relating to people? Is it to be loved or to love? Fortunately, when we are free to love without expecting anything in return, we are fulfilled by love’s fruit. Indeed, the glorious grace of God does not stand still when you run to love someone starved for compassion. Your gift of love invites the Holy Spirit to spread His love across the landscape of your heart and soul. Like a fast-spreading plant, love reaches into places we would never expect.
Make sure you are motivated to love by your intimacy with your heavenly Father. Let your communion with Christ inspire you to love others. The more consistent your love relationship with Jesus, the more capacity you have to love. To the extent you are loved well by the Lord, you will love well. The world’s noise drowns out the gentle words of Jesus—“I love you.” But in your daily quiet time, you hear and feel His presence. God’s love motivates you to love with intentionality!
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
Heavenly Father, let Your gracious and generous love motivate me to love.
Related Readings
John 15:12; Romans 5:8,10; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 3:6; 1 John 4:7-21
Put Love First
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13
Love is the highest and best motivation. Like contestants in a beauty pageant, faith and hope accompany love as the top three finalists, but love is crowned the winner. It reigns because it brings out the very best in the lover and the one being loved. Similar to an invisible force field, love protects us from ourselves and compels us to give ourselves to others. It generates goodwill and garners trust. Love is the pinnacle of the Lord’s expectations because it points to Christ.
Love is loyal when most are disloyal. Love steps up when some step away. Love believes the best and doesn’t think to assume the worse. Love looks out for the interests of loved ones above its own needs. Love always loves—when unloved, when lonely, and when loved. Love loves the unlovely, the unconcerned, and the underutilized.
Love looks for potential where impatience is disappointed. Love is the Lord’s lubricant that causes relationships to run smoothly.
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
What is your primary reason for relating to people? Is it to be loved or to love? Fortunately, when we are free to love without expecting anything in return, we are fulfilled by love’s fruit. Indeed, the glorious grace of God does not stand still when you run to love someone starved for compassion. Your gift of love invites the Holy Spirit to spread His love across the landscape of your heart and soul. Like a fast-spreading plant, love reaches into places we would never expect.
Make sure you are motivated to love by your intimacy with your heavenly Father. Let your communion with Christ inspire you to love others. The more consistent your love relationship with Jesus, the more capacity you have to love. To the extent you are loved well by the Lord, you will love well. The world’s noise drowns out the gentle words of Jesus—“I love you.” But in your daily quiet time, you hear and feel His presence. God’s love motivates you to love with intentionality!
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
Heavenly Father, let Your gracious and generous love motivate me to love.
Related Readings
John 15:12; Romans 5:8,10; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 3:6; 1 John 4:7-21
Put Love First
