It is important that disciples exhibit the love that is the character of God. It is a process that we go through – a process with a foundation of obedience. This daily devotional reviews that process and the evidence that charts our progress.
Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series
All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.
We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.
I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.
God created us and chose mankind to whom to show His love. (How Can God Heal This Land?). There is no evidence that God does not love non-believers. In fact, there is evidence to the opposite (What Is Expected of Disciples?).
God loves those who love and submit to Him. He has special blessings set aside for those who admit their sins, believe in Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer, and confess Him as Sovereign Lord (What Is Expected of Disciples?). Above all else, we need to individually love God. We have to be totally submitted to God. We have to be following His directives (The Ideal Family).
Law versus Character
We love and show reverence to God by following His laws and commandments (Godliness as a Virtue).
It is a command to follow God’s call. It is a command to do things through love (What Does Charity Mean?).
There are so many things we cannot govern by laws. We cannot govern evil. We cannot govern who is or isn’t going to love someone. We cannot pass laws that govern our thoughts and feelings (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?).
If we instill in ourselves the value of human life, we won’t take another’s life. We will love them regardless of our differences (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?).
We learn about God’s love and let that change us until we are full (Knowledge as a Virtue).
God loves us even after we disobeyed Him. As far as the Scriptures tell us, Adam and Eve had one thing they were supposed to obey – they couldn’t eat the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden (Comprehending Christ’s Love).
We have to repent and give up our love of sin – even our pet sin. We have to obey God’s laws and commandments (Comprehending Christ’s Love).
See Also
Building Love Is a Process
So many times, in the past, I think people have been told that all they have to do is love God. And that is true. We don’t earn salvation by doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. But that does come after conversion. We can’t stop at the love God part. We have to show that love by obeying Him (Love and Obedience: The Last Steps to Salvation).
A way to worship God is to imitate Him. One way to do that is to love those He has created. When we help those who need help, we are to accomplish that in a way that honors God (Disciples and Charitableness).
When we make the decision to worship God, we give Him our love make him and receive love, joy, and hope. We live for Him to make the decision to love, to be joyful, and to have hope. Then we have to tell others. We worship God and live for Him by wanting to sharing that love, joy, and hope (The Life and Death Matter of Worship).
Part of God’s Will for us is to love and support others. When we purposefully focus on doing His Will, we become holy like Him. We build our character as we mature our faith. This happens through sanctification, with the end goal righteousness (What Does Charity Mean?).
It is only through faith that disciples attempt to imitate Jesus and exhibit true compassion, pity, and love (What Is Expected of Disciples?).
We have God’s Word — that is a comfort to us. When we read through the passages, the love, provision, and peace just floods us. When we truly seek Him, God is going to unleash all we need to sustain and support us (How Can We Find Comfort in Troubling Times?).
The purpose of scriptures is to introduce us to the Creator and His plan to restore our relationship with Him. It tells us of His grace and love (How Do We Profit from Scriptures?).
Being sealed is another way to show that we are set apart from the world. It shows us God’s love (Jesus as a Teacher).
We have to love them through the pain the salt [working the sins out] brings. We have to not quit showing God to them (Getting Along with Others).
Love is the power behind spiritual knowledge. It facilitates discernment (Discerning the Voice of God through His Word).
Sometimes, we think this love is supposed to be perfect — meaning we are supposed to be perfect. I like the persistent going on to perfection. That means keep trying. If we fail, get, up, dust ourselves off, and try again (Discerning the Voice of God through His Word).
God’s love and comfort — as well as His corrections — will be applied equitably (How Can We Find Comfort in Troubling Times?).
See Also
Evidence of Love
What we do or don’t do matters. That is the expression of our love and reverence. It is the evidence of who we are (Godliness as a Virtue).
We show God’s merit when we give Him reverence. When we respond in humility, we show that we agree that He is higher than us. Our trust, love, and hope show how much we believe in His love and provision (How Do We Worship through Praise?).
Charity for disciples should be all about showing God’s love for them. By doing that, we are expanding God’s kingdom (What Does Charity Mean?).
- We have to love and serve others God’s way, not the world’s way (What Does Charity Mean?).
We open our homes to build relationships with those who need to know God. We take food to people who are sick or who have suffered a loss to show His love for them. We help build things, clean things or move things for the same reason (What Is Liberality?).
We need to let God’s love flow out of us into others. We have to show them that God cares for them (What Is Liberality?).
So, instead of tooting our own horns about all the charitable things we do, we should just do them. We should focus on God and imitating Him so that others can see His love for them (Disciples and Charitableness).
We are to focus on God, not this world. Our job is to proclaim the gospel and make disciples so that the whole earth can be united under God’s love. God’s love shining out through us is an effective witness to those with whom we come into contact (Kindness and Love as Virtues).
When we are doing the work that God has called us to, we are exactly where He wants us to be. He is in control, not us. We are supposed to write or talk or love or minister to whomever He is convicting (Did Election Fail?).
When we accept, God will use us to further His kingdom. He uses the broken to show His love (Did Election Fail?).
Unfortunately, some of us would rather keep things as an acquaintance level. Oh, we say we love our fellow disciples but don’t always mean it. Worse yet is to love our fellow man without really loving God (The Perfection of the Church).
It is our job to proclaim the gospel to non-believers and make them disciples. We do this because we love God and love them (How Are We to be Inclusive in Our Worship).
We have to make a decision to cooperate with each other. We have to deal with each other in love as a creation of God. We have to maintain the unity He requires (Rebuilding Together under Difficult Circumstances).
We are to love our fellow disciples because God is love. We are to imitate His character (Rebuilding Together under Difficult Circumstances).
If God is love, our actions must grow out of Him. They must prove the influence of Him in our lives. Our actions must show love (Collecting for Others).
Paul is making the point here that, even though they were the ones incorporated in, the Gentiles were not second-class citizens. They were also loved by the God of love (Is Election Really Mercy?).
We are to feel pity when someone is experiencing suffering or distress. Love softened by sorrow must be felt from the heart and result in actions (What Is Expected of Disciples?).
Love is expressed through kindness. Kindness is the action (What Is Expected of Disciples?).
We can understand why God says stop the dispute before it breaks out. God is love and peace. That is the opposite of strife and conflict (How Do Mature Disciples Control Conflict?).
The family must be built on love. First, we have to love God. Then, we have to love each other — exclusively at the marriage level (The First Family).
The peace comes because we are trusting Truth, not the lies of chaos. We are trusting the One who loves us unconditionally and everlastingly (Trust as the Foundation for Peace).
Who, not what. Peace isn’t what we do. It is Who we know and love (God Is the Only Peace for Man).
Paul told Timothy that, in order to love, three conditions need to be met: a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith (What Is Purity to a Disciple?).
Satan Does His Best
Satan tells us we don’t need God — that He isn’t omnipotent as He says. He says there is no reason for atonement and that Jesus doesn’t love us because we aren’t worthy. Satan tries to convince us that grace isn’t free — we have to earn it. Satan is wrong (Belief: The First Step in Salvation).
If we are going to get a true picture of God, we can’t be loving evil (What Is Purity to a Disciple?
I think a lot of times we think love is the foundation of our faith. We think we have a pure heart because we love. Only when we have the right relationship with God can we then reflect that love to others (What Is Purity to a Disciple?).
It is important that we see God’s love for us. It is important that we show that love to those around us.
Why is it so important? Ballard wrote, “GOD’S LOVE, embraced by faith into the inmost personality of man, is the central force of Christian life.”
Resource
At the core, it is all about God’s love for us. He wanted and wants our relationships with Him restored. He designed a way to make that happen.
We just have to accept.
Because the core is love, God is not a dictator on some power kick. He is a loving Heavenly Father. He wants what is best for us.
Father. To be swamped by Your love is humbling. All You have done for us is because of Your love. That is Who You are. Help us to be like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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