by Rick Warren
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. 1 John 3:18 (NLT)
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Love is something you do. Do you really love someone? Let’s see how you act toward that person. You show love by what you do, not just by what you feel.
Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior.
Over and over again, in the Bible, God commands us to love each other. And you can’t command an emotion. If I told you “Be sad!” right now, you couldn’t be sad on cue. Just like an actor, you can fake it, but you’re not wired for your emotions to change on command. Have you ever told a little kid, “Be happy!” I’m trying, daddy!
If love were just an emotion, then God couldn’t command it. But love is something you do. It can produce emotion, but love is an action.
The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 NLT). We can talk a good act: “I love people.” But do we really love them?
Do you really love them? Our love is revealed in how we act toward them.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
What's Worship?
By Joel and Victoria Olsten
“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NLT).
Praise is more than just singing songs in church on Sunday. In fact, praise isn’t even about singing songs! Praise is a heart attitude. Praise in your heart prompts singing songs, but it can also be manifest in many different ways. Your words, your actions, your daily life are all ways you give Him praise. Like the verse says, when your actions or words declare your allegiance to His Name, that’s giving God praise.
How do your actions declare your allegiance to Him? By simply obeying His Word. When we continually follow His commands, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we don’t feel like it, even when we are tired, that’s offering a sacrifice of praise to Him.
Remember, praise is a powerful weapon. Many times in the Old Testament, when God’s people would go into battle, they would send the worshipers out first. Praise precedes the victory. When you live a life that offers Him continual praise, you will see continual victory in every area of your life!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I do offer You continual praise. I choose to follow Your Word so that You may be glorified through me. Let everything within me honor You in all that I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NLT).
Praise is more than just singing songs in church on Sunday. In fact, praise isn’t even about singing songs! Praise is a heart attitude. Praise in your heart prompts singing songs, but it can also be manifest in many different ways. Your words, your actions, your daily life are all ways you give Him praise. Like the verse says, when your actions or words declare your allegiance to His Name, that’s giving God praise.
How do your actions declare your allegiance to Him? By simply obeying His Word. When we continually follow His commands, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when we don’t feel like it, even when we are tired, that’s offering a sacrifice of praise to Him.
Remember, praise is a powerful weapon. Many times in the Old Testament, when God’s people would go into battle, they would send the worshipers out first. Praise precedes the victory. When you live a life that offers Him continual praise, you will see continual victory in every area of your life!
A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, I do offer You continual praise. I choose to follow Your Word so that You may be glorified through me. Let everything within me honor You in all that I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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