Cgeneration devotional

You can give without loving but you can never love without giving. Loving and giving go hand in hand because giving is a natural expression of love. God, who is our ultimate standard on love has demonstrated His love for us by giving.

Ephesians‬ ‭5:2‬ ‭GNB‬‬ says

“Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.”

Titus‬ ‭3:4-5‬ ‭GNB‬‬ says

“But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was revealed, he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.”

‭‭

But how can we unconditionally love people who consistently hurt us and do the wrong things?

People want love but they are not willing to pay any price for it because of the belief that love is free and because it’s perceived to be free, they don’t value it.

But let’s think about it, is love really free?

Even though love is freely given, it comes at a cost to the giver. The love God has for us cost Him the Life of His only son! So even though we give love freely, we must give it to those who will value it and pay a price for it.

The ‘better half myth’ is the idea that we all have someone out there who is our better half, who is perfect for us and who we expect to complete us and fill that void in our lives. So did God create us incomplete?

Colossians‬ ‭2:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ says

“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

People, society and popular culture have made us believe that love is all about how we feel. So when someone makes us feel a particular way then we love them but when we don’t feel that way anymore then we don’t love the person anymore. But what would Jesus do?

Jesus said in John‬ ‭13:34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ ‘’A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

When it comes to love and relationships, the cliched advice a lot of people give is ‘follow your heart’.

But what does the bible say about the heart?

Jeremiah‬ ‭17:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ says

““The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

Love Myths: ‘happily ever after’

John‬ ‭16:33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””

Judges‬ ‭6:12‬ ‭GNB‬‬

“The LORD's angel appeared to him there and said, “The LORD is with you, brave and mighty man!””

Isaiah‬ ‭54:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

Isaiah‬ ‭53:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”