[Anglican Devotional 16 April 2024] Topic: Generous Love

Posted by: Nnenna || Categories: Devotional

TOPIC: Generous Love

READ: 1 John 3: 1-12 (NKJV)

1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor [is] he who does not love his brother.
11. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12. not as Cain [who] was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

THE MESSAGE:

The love of God that made him to seek for and restore us to a relationship with him is beyond human understanding; the magnitude is unimaginable.1 John 3: 1 paraphrased: I cannot explain this kind of love, it is too much for me, that God generously gave and did not hold back anything, even the Son, to make and call me his child. The appreciation and appropriation of the love of God builds hope which in turn purifies. This hope enables us to practise righteousness instead of sin. For God has dealt with the root of sin when His love propelled Jesus to the cross for the destruction of the works of the devil. Now, we must accept and appreciate this love of God: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8-). We must sincerely believe and accept Jesus Christ and resolve to live for Him and truly serve him. This love will keep us going and ready to sacrifice so as to please Him. This sincere love for God will definitely affect our relationship with Him; and in delightful obedience to his commandments, our families and neighbours will be loved and we will not deliberately hurt them. God’s love is generous to us; can we generously love Him in return?

PRAYER: Lord open the eyes of my understanding to perceive how much you love me and help me to love without reservation. Amen.

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