[MARCH 28] Helping Love Grow

Read: 1 Corinthians 13

"[Love] does not seek its own."

--1 Corinthians 13:5

A young man told his father, "Dad, I'm going to get married."

"How do you know you're ready to get married, Ron?" asked the father. "Are you in love?"

"I sure am!" he replied.

The father then asked, "Ron, how do you know you're in love?"

"Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend goodnight, her dog bit me and I didn't feel the pain until I got home!"

Ron has got that loving feeling, but he has a lot of growing to do. Vernon Grounds, a former writer for Our Daily Bread, who has been married for more than 70 years, shares these points about how to grow in love:

Ponder God's love in Christ. Take time to reflect on how He gave His life for you. Read about Him in the Gospels, and thank Him.

Pray for the love of God. Ask Him to give you an understanding of His love and to teach you how to live that out in your relationships with your spouse and others (1 Cor.13).

Practice the love of God. Give of yourself. A newlywed told me he thinks love is practical. He said, "My responsibility is to make life easier for my spouse." The other, tougher side of love is to challenge each other to act in godly ways.

Love will grow when we ponder love, pray for love, and practice love. --Anne Cetas

This is my prayer, kind Father,

So direct me from above

That I may live a life for You

And reflect my Savior's love. --Messenger

REFLECT ON THIS:

As Christ's love grows in us, His love flows from us.

[MARCH 22] Texting God

Read: Colossians 1:3-12

"[We] do not cease to pray for you."

--Colossians 1:9

An article in the Washington Post told about a 15 year-old girl who sent and received 6,473 cell phone text messages in a single month, She says about her constant communication with friends, "I would die without it." And she is not alone. researchers say that US teens with cell phones average more than 2, 200 text messages a month.

To me, this ongoing digital conversation offers a remarkable illustration of what prayer could and should be like for every follower of Christ. Paul seemed to be constantly in an attitude of prayer for others: "[We] do not cease to pray for you" (Col. 1:9). Prying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit" (Eph. 6:18). "Pray without ceasing?" (1 Thess. 5:17). But how can we possibly do that?

Missionary Frank Laubach described his habit of "shooting" prayers at people as he encounters them during the course of each day. In a sense, he was "texting" God on their behalf, saying in constant communication with the Father. Laubach believed that prayer is the mightest force in the world, and said: "My part is to live in this hour in continuous inner conversation with god and in perfect responsiveness to His will." 

Pray without ceasing. Perhaps what Paul urged us to do can be done. --David McCasland

Give me a spirit of prayer, dear Lord,

That I may commune with Thee

As i travel along life's rugged road,

In Thy company always to be. --Dawe

REFLECT ON THIS:

Prayer should become as natural as breathing.