Daily Devotional
February 24, 2021
Read: Colossians 3:12-14
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothes yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
I don’t know about you, but when someone hurts me with their actions or words, I tend to want to retreat. It can be so difficult to understand why someone I love would be hurtful. This struggle to understand can often lead me to thinking I have done something terribly wrong and need to work hard to “fix” it. In my efforts to fix, I lose sight of what God’s Word says. He tells us that we are dearly loved and that we are His chosen people. Our worth is not defined by how someone else speaks to us or treats us. As His chosen people, God calls us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. He does not say to clothe ourselves in bitterness, resentment, anger and grudges when we are hurt or to get busy fixing ourselves so we can be loved in all of our relationships. He calls us to KNOW that we are His chosen people and that we are holy and dearly loved….not just when we feel the love of others, but always. His desire is for us to know this especially when we feel broken. Human relationships will fail us from time to time. We are all flawed. What if we really lived knowing that God has chosen us just as we are and that He loves us dearly? What if we could forgive one another, just as God forgave us? What if we loved as He loved, not expecting perfect love from imperfect people, but rather accepting God’s perfect love? How might that impact our relationships? Know that this day, you truly are dearly loved by our Heavenly Father who has chosen You and called You to love! May His love shine from within you today and may it shine into the hearts of everyone that you encounter today.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for Your perfect love. May my love of others be a reflection of Your love for me! Fill me with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience today. Help me to forgive those I need to forgive and may I shine Your love from the depths of my heart! Your love fills me up, Lord. Oh, how I love You! In Jesus name, Amen!
