Do everything in love. 1 Cor. 16:10
Heavenly Father, “Do everything in love?… seriously? We know you don’t exaggerate, just to make a point, so, we’ll take this command at face value. Which means we’ll take the riches of the Gospel just as seriously.
We love you (or anyone), because you first loved us and gave Jesus as a sacrifice and propitiation of our sins. You love us this very day, in this very moment, without condition or limits, or qualifiers or disqualifiers. It’s only because of your great love for us in Jesus, that we can risk loving in the messy places, difficult circumstances, and unexpected providences of life. Here are a few that come to mind today. Father…
- Help us love well when the situation makes it easy to be defensive, “huffy”, and remain a bit snarky.
- Help us love well when we’re tired, ornery, and sleepless, yet life’s demands don’t accommodate us.
- Help us love well when people disappoint us, our children embarrass us, or bad traffic infuriates us.
- Help us love well when it’s time to confront a matter at work, in a friendship, or at church, but we’d rather either avoid the conflict; OR explode with anger, and say and do things we’ll later regret.
- Help us love well in our culture of political diatribe, divisive personalities, and unfiltered harshness.
- Help us love well when our takeout order is wrong, the UPS delivery is late, or guests show up early.
- Help us love well when circumstances reveal our brokenness, weaknesses, and spiritual immaturity.
- Help us love well when we experience how little control we have over what people think and say about us.
Because what really matters is what you think and say about us, Father. Make this more real, sweet, and freeing than ever. Keep us daily, (make that hourly), alive to your tenacious, wild, outrageous, joyful, transforming love for us Jesus. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
