PBPC Advent Devotional, Week 4 - Wednesday
Wednesday
1 John 4:8-10
8 …God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)
At weddings we often read in 1 Corinthians 13 that
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. (NIV)
As newlyweds, we hope and pray that we can live up to that standard. But that way of being is God's very nature. God's love is a total, all-in, even-unto-death commitment for us and to us. Even though our commitment to him is pretty much partial, and tepid, and on-again-off-again.
Who do you think loves you most? God loves you more. If God were to write you a love letter, what do you think he would write?
Daily Practice
Sit for a moment with your hands on your knees. Clench your fists tightly, then open them and let them rest on your knees palms up. Close your eyes and receive God's love, wave upon wave of love, overwhelming love. Feel his acceptance, his delight. God loves you SO much!
