loving your spouse

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and I shared a message at church yesterday about how we can help our marriages and relationships stronger and lasting. I believe that God gives us so much encouragement to be people who love others and are committed to the people we love.

In this message from Ephesians 5 we talked about the essentials of living a life of submission to each other, a life of sacrifice and that we are to choose each other. I will get to a couple of those later this week in the e-devotions.

Today I accept the challenge to love as Jesus loves. The reason why we love and the way we are to love was defined by God!

1 John 4:19 NLT

We love each other because he loved us first.

It is easier to love when we know that we are loved. We were created in His image and living out the character and example God gave us we literally become an image bearer of God because we do what He does.

A person who loves well will think and do for his or her spouse. Serving is important just as we are told in Ephesians 5, well husbands are encouraged, to go all out in loving our wives.

It is a sincere love, from the heart, that seeks to see her as best and do what brings out the best in others. That is what godly love finds as the results of choosing to love as God loves

John 13:35 NLT

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

Real love reminds the person that loved of their value and worth. As God brings out the best in us through His love we can and should do the same. This loved is marked by giving and not taking, encouraging and not punishing, pulling close and not pushing away

1 Peter 3:7 NLT

In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

Choose to give honor to your wife or your spouse. By honoring others and getting to know how to love them best our prayers will not be hindered. That is a promise from God we can claim.

May we be found loving well, bringing out the best in others and showing all who know us that God is so good and full of love!

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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