O Precious Lord, love is a choice to be like You. As a believer, my self-worth is based on the fact that You love me and called me to be Your very own. As a result, I am to be a reflection of You and Your love. I am learning, with the passage of time, that coming to resemble You means not only accepting Your gift of freedom from the power of sin but allowing You to recreate in me a new heart that is selfless and desires to serve others. I have dedicated my life to becoming more and more like You until the day I take my last breath. Knowing that my ultimate destiny is to spend eternity with you motivates me to strive harder to love like You loved. To purify myself requires avoiding the occasions of sin, living out Your Word and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I cannot allow myself to get embroiled in sin because only when I do what is right can I be free to love unconditionally.
You said that “no one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remains in him and he cannot go on sinning.” When I chose to turn my life over to You, I did so because I loved You and, in return, You showed Your love for me by giving me a new life. Beginning that new life with You is more than just a fresh start … it’s a rebirth into Your family and an unending supply of Your love. As a result of receiving You into my life, my perspective has changed and my actions are becoming more selfless and caring. As days go by, I am able to see us drawing closer as evidenced by the growth of my faith … the love and genuine concern I have for others … and, the way I live my life. Through genuine concern and compassion, I can demonstrate Your love living in me. If I do what is right and just, others will be able to see You … but, if I live for myself and follow a path of disobedience, my good witness will be tarnished.
Because You are love, the love I feel and give out has its source in You. My acts of love are reflections of who You are. When I do not act in love, it is because my selfish, fallen nature has been given priority over You. The way You want me to be convinced of Your love is for me to see the offering of Yourself in exchange for my life as the ultimate sacrifice one can make for another. Most people see love as a feeling, but in reality it is a choice and an action. You are my example of what true love is because everything that You did was unselfish, caring and compassionate. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the power He gives enables me to act more like You. Your acts of love always involved choices and action … and You want to teach me how to choose to love and act lovingly. I am happy with my initial choice to follow You and I look forward to more opportunities to choose and act as You would. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I John 4:16 God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.