I want to love you – my way! Today’s Truth By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another ( John 13:35, NIV). Have you noticed that sandpaper people are usually needy people? I have discovered that irritating behavior is often nothing more than a plea for help in disguise. True love - God’s love - looks beyond abrasive behavior to see and meet the real needs of a difficult person. Meeting a need in the life of a sandpaper person can be messy and usually demands a sacrifice of some kind on our part. It is easier to simply placate or avoid difficult people than it is to love them the way they need to be loved. It makes our life easier. For example, when we see that sandpaper person coming, we turn around and head in the opposite direction. When the caller ID identifies our sandpaper person as the caller, we do not answer. Hurried conversations replace a listening heart. We offer tolerance instead of acceptance. And God is not pleased. He is committed to our character - not to our comfort. God wants us to love each other in the same way that He loves – unconditionally. In fact, God wants us to love in such a way that the people around us will know we are fully devoted followers of Christ. I wonder what our relationships would look like if we did. Who knows? That sandpaper person may very well turn into a velvet person. Let’s Pray Father, Thank You for looking beyond my faults and for loving me unconditionally. Forgive me when I fail to love others in the same way. Give me eyes to see the needs in my sandpaper person’s life and show me how to meet those needs in a way that pleases You. I pray that others will see Your love working in and through my life. In Jesus’s name, Amen. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the words, “When you feel like it, love others.” Nope! It is not in there. The Bible tells us to practice love. Love is a choice – not an emotion or a feeling. Loving sandpaper people usually requires a deliberate choice on our part. I challenge you to step out in faith today and choose to love that difficult person in your life. Read the following commitment and fill in the blanks with the name of your sandpaper person. Be sure to sign and date your commitment. Father, I choose to love _____________ as a step of obedience to You. I will show Your love to ______________ by sending her a note of encouragement. I will pray for __________, remembering that she is made in Your image, and that You love her just as much as You love me. Sign_______________________ Date _______________ I know it is hard to love someone who is constantly on your nerves. In fact, it is impossible without the power of God in your life. I understand how hard it is to love difficult people, so we hold each other accountable.I encourage you to recruit a girlfriend who is willing to do the same for you.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 22:13:13 +0000
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