Be YouSample

Through this devotional, we’ve looked at relationships and how to love well and be loved well, taking seriously Jesus’s instruction on the two most important commandments:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39

We each have promises, dreams, and a unique calling that God has designated just for us. But we each have one calling in common, and it is above all others: to love and be loved.

In order to fully step into what God wants for our friendships, we must choose to:

• Agree fully with who God says we are;
• Trust in God—who is perfect in both love and righteousness—to meet our needs;
• Allow God into any areas where healing or restoration is needed; and
• Receive freedom by surrendering to Him and asking for or offering forgiveness.

One of the greatest gifts a good friend gives is encouragement. Even when you don’t feel strong, chosen, or loved, a good friend will speak the truth over you of who you are.

Remember you have the authority as God’s beloved, chosen, beautiful, redeemed, and forgiven daughter to access the fullness of His goodness. He is eager for you to trade in your burdens for freedom, and He has commissioned you to remind your sisters in Christ of who they are in Him. Gather some friends, open the Word of God together, and encourage one another in truth and love!