I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
What does love really look like?
It’s easy to feel bombarded with information about what it means to love and to be loved. But the template for true love isn’t found in cultural trends, it was given to us by the God who represents the concept itself.
His love is different from any other kind of love. In fact, the Bible says that God is love.
God sent His only Son to die for the sins of every person. There was only one reason for God to experience that kind of heartache: His love for us.
God didn’t need us, but He wanted us. His love is unconditional, sacrificial, everlasting, and for everyone. When we accept God’s love for us, we can then love Him in return and let Him change the way we see ourselves. And when we learn to see ourselves through the lens of God’s love, we start to love others like God loves us.
Jesus modeled what God’s love looked like when He gave up His life for us. We didn’t deserve or earn it—but that didn’t stop Him from going to the cross on our behalf.
We become His friends when we accept His sacrifice and receive His forgiveness. But Jesus says we will truly know that we are His friends if we do what He asks of us (John 15:14). And this is what Jesus asks of us…
“Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:12-13 NLT
If we love Jesus, then we are His friends. But if we are His friends, then we will care about what He cares about. And He cared so much about us that He gave up His rights, authority, and life so that anyone could experience God’s eternal love. Jesus will call us His friends if we are willing to do the same thing.
So what would laying down your life for a friend look like? Maybe this means giving up your plans for a day in order to serve someone. It could look like preserving a relationship by intentionally giving up an argument. Or maybe it means sacrificing your time, energy, or self-image in order to come alongside someone who is hurting.
God’s love in action is selfless because it causes us to think about ourselves less. So today, ask God to show you how you can love others like He has sacrificially loved you.
God is With You
Throughout the Bible, there are various moments when God tells someone to not be afraid. Each one comes at a time when the hearer has every reason to be very afraid.
In one instance, Joshua, the leader of Israel after the death of Moses, was taking the Israelites to their promised land (see: Exodus 3). He was leading over one million people to a place God had promised, and it meant going through some overwhelming and terrifying situations.
In the midst of this, God commanded Joshua to do two things:
Obey the Word of God and, be strong and courageous because the Lord was with them. (See: Joshua 1:7-9)
In Matthew 28, Jesus says something similar just after His resurrection. He is with His eleven disciples and He tells them:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, ...
