Put Your Love into Action

Put Your Love into Action TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: If anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him? Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth... 1 John 3:17-18, AMP. TODAY'S WORD: I’ve heard it said that you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. Notice this verse tells us that love isn’t just about our words or thoughts; it’s about our actions. Love is about reaching out and meeting the needs of others. Sometimes meeting someone’s needs is as simple as a smile or sharing a word of encouragement. There are many ways to show the love of God. Can you pay for someone’s gas or groceries? Do you see a need in someone’s life that you can meet? Remember, you are the hands and feet of Jesus in the earth. The Lord wants to bless you today so that you can be a blessing to others. He wants to work through you to show His love and compassion. Today and every day, look for ways to put your love into action. The Bible says that it’s His kindness that leads people to repentance. He wants to show His kindness in the earth through you. Step out and sow good seeds of love by meeting the needs of others. God promises that those seeds will produce an abundant harvest in your life in return! PRAYER FOR TODAY: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your hand of blessing in my life. Thank You for choosing to work through me today. I submit myself and my resources to You. Show me ways to be a blessing to others so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Don’t Repeat the Hurt. Delete It! by Rick Warren “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop.” (Mark 11:25 AMP) When people hurt us, we have two natural tendencies: remember and retaliate. But that’s not what 1 Corinthians 13:5 tell us to do: “Love keeps no record of being wronged” (NLT). So how should you respond to the people who have hurt you? How do you handle all of those wounds and hurts that you’ve stockpiled in your memory? You don’t repeat them; you delete them. Let it go. Forgive, and get on with your life. When we get hurt, we tend to repeat that hurt in three ways: emotionally in our minds, relationally as a weapon, and practically by telling other people. First, we repeat it by going over and over it in our mind. But resentment is self-destructive. It only perpetuates the pain. It never heals. It never solves anything. Whatever you think about most is what you move toward. If all you think about is how much you’ve been hurt in the past, you’ll only move toward the past. But if you focus on the future, you move toward the future. If you focus on potential, you move toward the potential. Second, we repeat our hurt in relationships. We use it as wedges and weapons. “Remember when you did that?” “But you did this!” The Bible says in Proverbs 17:9, “Love forgets mistakes. Nagging about them parts the best of friends” (LB). It also parts marriages and every other relationship you have. Nagging doesn’t work. Third, we repeat our hurt by telling it to other people. It’s called gossip! We tell everybody else except God and the person with whom we have the problem. Did you know that God hates gossip? He hates it as much as he hates pride, because that’s what gossip is. Gossip is pure and simple ego — trying to make ourselves look and feel better. Every time you share gossip, you are being prideful, and God hates pride and gossip. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love doesn’t repeat a wound so that it turns into resentment or gossip or pride. Love responds to hurt by letting it go. “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop” (Mark 11:25 AMP). Talk It Over What hurt have you rehearsed over and over in your mind that you need to let go of today? Why do you think it’s easier to nag about a mistake rather than forgive it? Is it really easier in the long run? What do you need to change about the way you respond to gossip?