Most Loving Lord, You’ve invited me to be an imitator of Your life and dedicate myself to living for You and others. Just as a child imitates his parents, I must be an imitator of the way You lived. Your selfless love for mankind led You to sacrifice Yourself for us so that we can live free. It is my turn to share this love with others … a love that goes beyond feelings into self-sacrificing service. I do not want to become a people pleaser or live my life focused on me. I want to be taught how to love like You and I want to do it because I know it is the right way to live. If I can shed the desire to act solely in my self-interest, I can enter new realms of joy and happiness with a life unfettered with self-promotion and insincere motives. Such a love breaks down walls of resentment, dries up pools of bitter hatred and breaks down barriers created by betrayal. As I learn to love like You, I’ll get beyond pettiness and selfish motives.
It is through the example of Your love that I am inspired to live a more excellent way. Your invitation is to a higher calling to make an impact for Your Kingdom and Your Body. You urge me to seek out how to serve You and others with the talents and gifts that You placed within me. It causes me to wonder if I can ever love the way you did. You have raised the bar so high with the magnitude of Your loving sacrifice that I cannot help but wonder how mine will stand up to the test. You ask me to love my enemies … walk the extra mile … turn the other cheek … and forgive 7 x 70. These are not easy things to do. To become more like You, I must begin to think as you think … feel as You feel … reason as You reason … and use both my heart and head to follow Your lead. The way for me to fill an imperfect life with perfect love is to take in more of You.
I am learning that as I open my heart to You, Your love is changing the way that I think. My mind is doing an about-face as it is transformed through the divine impulses that flow from Your heart. I’m seeing a change in my thinking as I allow Your heart to influence me. The change that I’m seeking will start on the inside, bubble up to the surface and show up in changed behaviors. In seeking a deeper relationship with You, I’m finding the power to love in ways I didn’t know I had. Your teachings and example provide me with ways to … transform my thinking through emersion in Your Word … opening myself to acts of service … accepting rather than judging … remaining faithful in doing what is right … and, becoming less self-absorbed. I know that along the way I will fail You but, as I seek You with all my heart, I know I will become better at loving like You do. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
John 13:34 A new commandment I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so love one another.