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CURRENT RADIO SERIES God's Secrets   CURRENT TV SERIES Unchained

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…. --1 Peter 1:22 What does it mean to love others with a sincere love as Peter describes in the above verse? What does this kind of love look like? How do we show it? A while back I heard an amazing testimony that brought the meaning of this Scripture to life in a powerful way. Ward Brehm, a philanthropist, told us that he used to describe himself as a successful businessman who went to church on occasion. So one day, Ward’s pastor invited him to join him on a mission trip to Africa. And after some deliberation, Ward decided to go. That trip would change his life for eternity. Ward told of a specific day on the journey that he had been fasting, but had brought some power bars along with him. Deep into Africa’s wild, the group stopped and he went into a small tent to rest for a bit. While he was in the tent, an African boy who looked to be about 10 years old came into the tent. The boy was playing around a bit and looking curiously through Ward’s belongings. As the young boy left the tent, he managed to take one of Ward’s power bars with him. Ward said he thought in that moment how much kids are alike wherever you go. But that was only until he walked out of the tent and saw the little boy breaking off bits of that power bar and feeding it to his three-year-old sister who had a distended stomach and a dying body. Witnessing that selfless act… of the young boy loving his sister more than himself… Ward Brehm came to understand sincere love. And his life was changed for eternity. You see, sincere, selfless love changes lives. And this is the amazing love that Jesus Christ wants to show others through your life. Ask Jesus to help you rise to this higher purpose: To love others with a sincere love. And it will change your life for eternity. Sincere, selfless love changes lives.

“Set Your Affection”

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1–4

In his 1746 book, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards described the process undergone by those who are converted and the change it makes in their lives. He wrote, “The higher gracious affections are raised, the greater the spiritual appetite and longing of soul after spiritual attainments. Those with false affections rest satisfied in them. But for a Christian, the more he loves God with a gracious love, the more he desires to love Him, and the more uneasy he is that he doesn’t love Him more; the more he hates sin, the more he desires to hate it, and is upset that he loves it so much; the more his heart is broken, the more he desires it should be broken; the more he longs after God and holiness, the more he longs to long.”
The course of our lives is set by the things which we love most. The more our affections are set on the things of this world, the less godly our lives will be. The more our affections are set on the things of God, the more like Jesus we will act, think, and talk. There is no way to permanently change outward problems without first changing the heart. Yet too often we try to fix things from the outside in. No lasting spiritual change ever comes from a focus on externals. The outside still matters, but the true direction of a life is set by what is loved in the heart.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

When we focus our love on God and the things that matter to Him, we will glorify Him with our lives.