Daily Devotional

I consider myself a pretty loving person. But honestly what Christian wouldn’t? If you don’t consider yourself a loving person you may need to go check the greatest commandment Jesus gave in Matthew 22:36-40. However, even though we consider ourselves loving people...so does Oprah. So do celebrities. So do non-profit organizations that get behind great causes. So, the question I had to ask myself was, “Wil, what is special about your love?” Jesus is telling us here that our love for one other is to be so special that it draws the attention of the world. Does it?
 
How many people have recognized us as followers of Christ, as a result of how we love? I’ve come to realize that I don’t know that I’m truly loving this way. If you have ever worked in a restaurant, been on a sports team, or even bonded with people outside the church, you know that coworkers, neighbors, or acquaintances also know how to love. But Jesus made that clear saying, even sinners know how to love each other (Luke 6:32-34). But is the love that we experience and/or are recognized for different? It should be.
 
Jesus said love like me (John 13:34). I believe we are to find ways to love that are sacrificial and selfless. It goes without question that one of God’s defining characteristics is how He loves. Now think of the faces of some of the people in our church and think of the specific ways Christ sacrificed to bring them to Himself. The lengths that He went through. The punishment He endured. All out of love. He did that for me. He did that for you. Now He is calling us to pursue a similar type of unnatural love for one another and by doing so we’ll attract an unsuspecting world. How are we doing?
 
This type of love is patient and kind. It’s not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. This type of love isn’t concerned with being “right”. It’s not irritable or resentful. It never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. This type of love lasts forever (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
 
“We have experienced the greatest love in the universe. Shouldn’t that profound love flow out of us? And shouldn’t that be enough to shock the world,” says Francis Chan. May we be a people who long to be known for our love for one another.
 
Additional reading on loving one another (Rom. 12:9-10; 1 Cor. 13; 1 Pet. 4:8; 1 John 4:7-12)

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."