Today, take a few minutes to read 1 John 2:1-14. First pray and ask God to open your heart to hear what he has to say. Read through it thoughtfully and think about what you see there. What especially caught your attention? Today, for me it was verse 5:
But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.
God is love, and his Way is all about love. If we will let God rule in our hearts, receive his Word openly, and act responsively to it, the result it will bring is a life of love (compare 1 Timothy 1:5). That's what God wants to create in me. If I am caring more about the people around me, even the ones that chap my hide, I am moving in the direction God's Word wants to take me. On the other hand, if my study of his word makes me more condemning and I find myself withdrawing and pushing people away, I'm missing something. God's Word will make me more sensitive to sin but it should also make me more compassionate towards sinners, especially since I am one.
Father, my sins may not always be as obvious or brazen as some other people's but I know they are just as condemning without your grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. Please make your amazing love for broken people like me complete in my life so that I pour it out on others. Amen.
Amen! My reflection on this passage will be vs 9-11
ReplyDelete"Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
We are called to love one another, lift each other up in prayer and in deed.
Lord, may we abide in Your word. Father in Your glorious name I ask You to release the blinders that are on my own eyes. Mold me to be more like You and help me to love more. Lord when I stumble, and I DO stumble, I know You are there to help me back up. I ask that You equip me to follow Your lead, should one of my fellow Christians stumble.
In Jesus' name, AMEN