“All you need is love.
But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
– Charlie Brown (Charles M. Schulz)
Therefore, anyone who refuses
to live by these rules
is not disobeying human teaching
but is rejecting God,
who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
But we don’t need to write to you
about the importance of loving each other,
for God himself has
taught you to love one another.
1 Thessalonians 4:8-9 NLT
God keeps on giving us the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One of the great blessings about this presence is that God pours love into our hearts through the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Along with the great example of God’s love in sending Jesus (John 3:16-17), the Father uses the Spirit to teach us to know how to love each other. This is part of the Spirit’s fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) as well as the work of the Spirit that brings us into fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14), that holds us together in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3-4), and that fills us as we submit to one another (Eph. 5:17-21). Loving each other is not only a command; it is also part of God’s continuing work in us through the Holy Spirit. The reward for this obedience is kind of like good chocolates… heavenly!
Dear God, I confess
that I do not always love others as I should.
I ask you to make me more like Jesus
in my love for others.
I am thankful for the presence
of the Holy Spirit
to help me see those
whom I need to show your love
and to empower me to love them
when it is difficult.
In Jesus’ name I pray for this grace.
Amen.
Ken Crawford 