The following devotion has been excerpted from my newest resource, "The Invitation To Love." This 10-part devotional on love is available today with your donation of any amount.
Learn more about "The Invitation To Love..."
Invisible love needs an incarnation.
No one has ever seen God. How, then, do you witness to those around you about the God we worship? If people can?��t see him, how will they believe?
Think about this. If you experienced the benefits of a diet or workout plan, you witness to others with the evidence of fat lost or muscle gained. If you experienced the wonder of creation during a family vacation to an exotic location, you witness to others with photos and souvenirs from your trip.
So how do you make an invisible God of love visible to those around you? Maybe the ultimate apologetic in the human community for the veracity of the gospel is the love of God?��s people for one another. In simple words, the best defense for the existence of Jesus is two or more Christians living together in self-sacrificing love.
If you take two self-oriented human beings, and they begin to live in cruciform love with each other, you know that divine grace has visited those people because that?��s the only way they would ever be able to live in that way. It?��s the ultimate argument for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus communicates this principle during his earthly ministry: ?��A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another?�� (John 13:34-35).
I know that there will be people reading this devotional who have unresolved issues with one another. I would encourage you, after reading this devotional, to seek or grant forgiveness to these people.
Husbands and wives, you need to find your spouse and confess that you haven?��t loved as you have been called. Parents, you need to hug your children and confess that you haven?��t loved as you have been called. Children, you need find your parents and confess to making their life hard because you haven?��t loved as you have been called.
Whoever you are, find the people in your life whom you have wronged and seek their forgiveness. If someone seeks your forgiveness, give it freely as Christ forgave you.
God bless
Paul David Tripp
P.S. - don't forget to check out "The Invitation To Love," a 10-part study on love 1 John 4. It's available with your donation of any amount to my ministry.
Reflection Questions
- To whom do you need to confess and seek forgiveness from?
- How can you make it a priority to speak to that person today?
- What excuses are you currently trying to find to avoid that conversation?
- If someone confesses to you, why might you struggle to forgive?
- What can motivate you to be a person who forgives quickly?
