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Loving When It Hurts
The Message Bible translation of Philippians 2:1-4 is piercingly blunt: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”
Putting others before yourself and loving others to the extent that you put your own desires aside can be really hard. But that’s what God’s agape love is all about! It was never supposed to be easy. And I cannot think of a better example than Jesus. Was it easy for Him to get spat upon, pierced with thorns in His head, betrayed by His friends and then nailed to a cross where He bled and died?! Let me assure you; it was not! And even more than the physical pain, was the emotional pain of separation from His beloved Father. I cannot even comprehend how much pain Jesus, as a human, had to go through.
What crazy love! Makes you want to shout out loud! This is the kind of self-sacrificial love that we are called to exhibit when we realize how deeply the Father loves us. People will see this love and wonder what’s up with us. Work in unity with others, work for the well-being of others. Forget your own advantage. Love when it’s easy. More importantly, love when it hurts.
Prayer
God, You are so crazy about me. May I radiate Your kind of love to others, and seek others’ interests before my own. Amen.
The Message Bible translation of Philippians 2:1-4 is piercingly blunt: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”
Putting others before yourself and loving others to the extent that you put your own desires aside can be really hard. But that’s what God’s agape love is all about! It was never supposed to be easy. And I cannot think of a better example than Jesus. Was it easy for Him to get spat upon, pierced with thorns in His head, betrayed by His friends and then nailed to a cross where He bled and died?! Let me assure you; it was not! And even more than the physical pain, was the emotional pain of separation from His beloved Father. I cannot even comprehend how much pain Jesus, as a human, had to go through.
What crazy love! Makes you want to shout out loud! This is the kind of self-sacrificial love that we are called to exhibit when we realize how deeply the Father loves us. People will see this love and wonder what’s up with us. Work in unity with others, work for the well-being of others. Forget your own advantage. Love when it’s easy. More importantly, love when it hurts.
Prayer
God, You are so crazy about me. May I radiate Your kind of love to others, and seek others’ interests before my own. Amen.
Scripture
About this Plan
It is our prayer that it will reveal to those who don’t know Jesus Christ, that there is a Creator and Maker of this universe, the only loving and powerful God who longs for a personal relationship with every human being. We pray that these daily readings will remind us all of the great hope and abundant joy in knowing Jesus Christ, through whom we have eternal life!
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