Bible Journaling

The Decision to Love May 15, 2023

“Do not waste your time bothering about whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did… When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love them.” - C.S. Lewis

It may not always feel to you that love is a choice. After all, some people want make it very difficult to find reasons to want to be anywhere near them. The fact is that there’s a difference between that genuine, heartfelt, emotional attachment you feel for the people in your intimate circle, and the kind of love that God expects you to share with your neighbor.

Genuine love comes from God. You can choose to offer God’s love to your neighbor, to your difficult boss, or to a complete stranger. After all, God gave it to you to give away. He wants you to share His truth and His light with others. So, sharing that kind of love is a decision you can make every day.

Sometimes even the people you genuinely love, offend you and you have to call on God’s love for them too. The understanding to have is that you always have love to give because you have God’s love to share.

“If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are not better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends.” - Matthews 5:46-47 NCV

Let us pray: Lord, help us to be willing to share Your love with everyone we meet today. Father God, hear our prayers of intentions from today, from our prayer wall and for any unmentioned prayers in our hearts.. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

(Today’s devotional comes from”You are Blessed: 366 Devotions written by Karen Moore) Published by Christian Art Publishers