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Families are not perfect, and sometimes they can be hard to love. But when I understand that love is more about deliberate choice than a subjective feeling, I can choose to love them no matter the circumstances and no matter their response. And if you choose to love them anyway, you may discover that those circumstances change and so do their responses.

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As we focus on love this month, we need to cast the light on the most immediate group of people you should show genuine love. Who is that? It is your own family. If God has given you a spouse, and if God has given you children, then treat them like the precious gifts they are. If you will treat them the way God has prescribed, then they will treat you better than you deserve. I love my family, but I want to make sure that I love them the way the Spirit of God guides me to do so.

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A verse from the old hymn begins, “Take my silver and my gold; / Not a mite would I withhold.” Yet, when we get a little silver or gold, we hold it with all our might. Someone said, “When we get all we can, we can all we get, then we sit on the can.” The money God has entrusted you with is not to be hoarded or used selfishly; it is a tool He can use to bless others when we are willing to sacrifice it.

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One of the surest tests in our relationship with God involves our money. Jesus told us clearly that we can’t serve both, and yet somehow, for some reason, we still try to keep both as priorities. My view of money and my handling of money goes a long way in clarifying where I am in my relationship with God. This can certainly be seen in Sacrificial Giving.

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Of course we all have Sundays when we wish we didn’t have to get out of bed, or get ready, or go to church, or serve in whatever capacity we serve. But we do. We get up, we go, we gather, we glory. Maybe we go because we have a biblical conviction to go. But one good reason to go is because we love it; we love our church. “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’”

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In February, we focus on love. Valentine’s Day is right there in the middle of the month. But early and late we ought to express our love to one another. One of the objects of love in my life is the love I have for my church, for my church family. Jesus loves the church; so much so that He died for her; so much so that one day she will be His bride. If Jesus loves the church, then I should love the church. And I especially ought to love my church.

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The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians all took their shot at Jesus. Each one challenged Him in some specific way. Of course, Jesus handled them all perfectly. But one of the things we learn through these episodes is that there is the question, obviously. But behind the question is the person asking the question. And in these cases the questions tell you more about the person asking them and you discover the motivation behind the questions themselves.

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Behind every action, behind every word, is some kind of motive. Why do we do what we do? Why do we say what we say? There is a reason. Sometimes the reason is bland. Sometimes the reason is being helpful. But sometimes the reason is being harmful, or just being mean. For all the questions thrown at Jesus in Luke 20, there is a motive behind each one, and Jesus uses the end of the chapter to expose it.

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You will not always be applauded for living a life of biblical convictions, not even among the brethren. But, according to Hebrews 10, God will be pleased as you do His will. And wouldn’t we rather have a life that pleases God rather than others? Rather than self, even? It will take convictional decisions.

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Personal, biblical convictions are a necessary part of the Christian life, and they are a necessary underpinning for making good, godly, wise decisions. The life we live in 21st Century America demands that Christians establish convictions based on the authority of God’s Word that we may not be swept away in the flow of an anti-Christian culture.