January 5th, 2021
2 Thessalonians 3:5 “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
The Big Picture
You may have heard the term agape love but may not be real clear on what it means. What is agape love? How is it any different from the dozens of other ways we use the word love? First, let’s understand what it is not. It is not romantic love, because people of all faiths (and no faiths) experience romantic love. It is not brotherly love, where you have a natural chemistry with another person. Agape love is unconditional love. It is a choice we make to love another person whether he or she loves us back or not. It means that you choose to love someone even if he is your enemy! Agape love is not based on emotion at all. In fact, it may be contrary to every emotion you have. It is an act of the will.
Agape love presents a real challenge for us. It is tough to live out because it’s hard to love someone who doesn’t respond to you in the way you would desire. And all of us are going to have certain individuals—even within the body of Christ—whom we struggle to love.
How To Pray
Simply start by praying 2 Thessalonians 3:5 as a personal prayer.
Do you struggle to love someone? Do you struggle to be loving? We all do. Pray that God would grow you to love those who may be difficult to love and that you would be a Christ-follower who would be easy to love.
Pray that our example to our church community and our community at large will see God in us.