Let Your Love Grow

Let Your Love Grow TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV. TODAY'S WORD: God’s desire is to see you grow and increase in every area of your life—especially in your love for others. That’s because love is the greatest thing, and it is all that matters in eternity. At the end of the day, at the end of our lives here on earth, love is what will last forever! Notice that this verse tells us that love and faith are connected. It says in another verse that faith works by love. Love isn’t about feelings and emotions; it’s about the choice to treat people the way God tells us to in His Word. The more we know Him, the more we know His Word, the more we will walk in love. Today, I pray that your love will continue to grow and build a solid foundation for your faith. I pray that through your connection with the Father, you are strengthened in all of your relationships as you move forward into the life of blessing He has for you! PRAYER FOR TODAY: Father, thank You for loving me and transforming me into Your image. Search my heart and mind today. Help me to love others the way You love me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Love Forgives the Hurt by Rick Warren “Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12 TEV) Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses” (TEV). Which of the “all” have you not let go? Which of the offenses in your life are you still holding on to? Maybe as a child you were hurt by an adult — a teacher, a family member, maybe even your parents. The Bible says that there will be severe judgment for child abuse, neglect, and abandonment; one day God is going to settle the score on that. When God says, “Honor your father and mother,” he’s not saying honor their sins or their selfishness or their poor decisions. He’s not saying ignore the pain in your life and put on a happy face and pretend everything’s great. So what does God expect? How does he expect you to love the destructive people who’ve hurt you? He doesn’t expect you to ignore it. He doesn’t expect you to pretend it doesn’t exist. He’s not asking you to gloss over it or deny it or repress it or make excuses for the people who’ve hurt you. God doesn’t want you to fake it; he wants you to face it, because you can’t forgive until you face it. You’ve got to stop running, and you’ve got to stop blaming. If you’re going to become the loving woman or man that God wants you to be, you’re going to have to deal now with the destruction someone’s caused in your past. If you’re still angry with a parent or anybody else, you’re still allowing that person to control you. Don’t allow that any more. You’ve got to deal with the anger. You’ve got to face it before you can forgive it. The Bible says in Proverbs 19:11, “When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.” But you can’t ignore it until you face it and forgive it! Then you can let it go. Love lets it go. We know that “love keeps no record of being wronged” (1 Corinthians 13:5 NLT). I don’t know who you need to forgive, but I do know today’s the day. Love lets it go. Love forgives. Because they deserve it? No. Because it’s what God did for you, and it’s the only way to be free. Talk It Over Who are the people in your life who have hurt you and who you need to forgive? What does forgiveness change about the hurt that happened? What does it change about you? Your future? How does Proverbs 19:11 change how you will react to hurt in the future?