Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to himself. Confess any known sin. Thank him for his forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and his sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s word. Pray for others in your life that they too would know and love God today.
Read:
Romans 13:8: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
2 Cor. 5:14: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.”
Understand:
For Paul, loving others is the single most important characteristic of the Christian life and the heart of Christian living. It’s the epitome and essence of the entire OT moral law; the one unending debt that Christians owe others. We must love others, and that love should be the touchstone of the way we conduct ourselves in relation to others.
It was Christ Love that compelled Paul and his companions into action. The Word “compels” means “to hold fast.” The Love of Christ was constraining them to certain courses of actions. They knew that Jesus didn’t act out of his own self-interest, but instead he freely died for all.
Jesus’ life shows us how to love, he loved because he was a loving person, not because he found attractive qualities in those he loved. And we, his followers, are to be loving people, not simply to be drawn to attractive people. People matter.
Apply:
Reflect on Christ’s love for you. In what ways has he revealed his love to you in tangible ways?
In what ways have you failed to love people?
Remembering that “compels” means “to hold fast.” Think about your own life and the ways Christ’s love for you compels you, constraining you, to certain courses of actions. Right them down.
If you’re on course, what can you do to make sure you stay on course? If you drifting, what would it take for you to get back on course, to dial in on loving people, even people that are hard to Love?
What do you need to do to love people? What is one thing you can do this week to move that way?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer for today, make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through his Spirit as you go through your day. Ask him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell him “Yes” to his will today and ask him for his power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask him to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY TODAY.