Loving well is not an easy thing to do. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, the day for celebrating love. However, our world is embroiled in numerous situations that prove people do a very poor job of loving. These scriptures spoke to my heart. I pray they speak to yours as well.

 

2MefromHim Devotionals

Loving Well

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44

Broken wedding vows. Broken hearts. Hurt feelings. Ruined friendships. Families destroyed. We don’t do a good job of loving.

John told us, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” We do a poor job of showing love if we don’t rely on the source of love for the ability to do so.

It is so easy to grow impatient, to lose our tempers, to allow passing comments to get under our skin.

If love comes from God, it seems He should be our source of learning to love well, doesn’t it? Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

I fail at loving well on a regular basis. How about you?

Loving my neighbor as myself takes the emphasis off self and puts it on loving others. It’s easy to be selfish. Too tempting to act self-righteous—to see to my own desires first and do what is most convenient for me.

Paul said a lot about love, for someone who came to public recognition through hatred. We see too much of that today. Yet Paul says love is patient, kind, not envious, boastful, or proud. That means setting aside my own feelings and needs to serve someone else.

What if we kept no record of the wrongs, perceived or actual? What if we set wrongs aside and responded in love? What would change in our country, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, and families if we let wrongs slide off our backs like weighty packs we were anxious to shed? What if instead of reacting in anger we forgave? Would that be considered love rejoicing in the truth—that God forgave us and therefore, we must forgive others?

Scripture says that love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Clearly, our emphasis should be on the other person. Our responsibility is to show love rather than cling to rights and feelings. Paul says love never fails, but if I hold onto hurt and anger, I fail at loving well, at following the example set by Jesus.

If only faith, hope, and love will remain, and love is the greatest, are my hope and faith in God if I fail to show love to those around me?

I make no judgment. I don’t love others as well as I should. I only offer these thoughts on loving well for Valentine’s Day—the day we celebrate love.

© Copyright by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, February 11, 2017

About the author:

Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, winner of the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Norma-Gail/e/B00ILHXBAK/

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

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Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas: https://lpcbooks.com/norma-gail/