Day 22 - Love in Christ

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"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails..."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

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As a young person not being old enough to remember 9/11 or 7/7, I have found it increasingly difficult to comprehend the enormity of events that have happened in recent times. We have seen atrocities such as the brutal murder of MP Jo Cox, the Manchester bombing, and the Westminster attacks. I am seeing the principles and values that I was brought up knowing and believing being pushed aside, things I thought were core principles the majority of share, tested to its limit.

All around us, not just in the UK, we have seen an increase in terror attacks. The spread of fear, hate, and injustice has become the new 'normal'. We have become so exposed to the negativity of the attacks that we have begun to question everything, consciously or subconsciously we have begun to doubt people, as a nation we have become more judgemental, more divided and more 'protective'.

It is in times like these that we should turn to the Bible, we should spend more time together with family, we should act on what we know to be right and do it because of our absolute faith in Jesus Christ. In times of weakness, we see the best and worst of humanity. It brings our 'real' mankind. We see what God sees all the time - lost people.

We are called to live a life of unconditional love just like the love that God shares with us. In Corinthians, we see Love never fails. So, like General John Gowans penned in these times of shifting values, there are standards that remain. Love remains, hope remains, faith remains and Christ, our foundation, remains as steadfast as ever. I still believe there are more people in this world who favour love over hate.

As followers of Christ, we are called to go and make disciples of all nations. Yes it will be hard, yes we will be in the minority, yes we might not be 'liked' because of it, but we have to press on into adversity to save souls for Jesus. We must not mess around and become bogged down with the things of this world but we must instead fight a good fight, so all will hear God.

I believe more than ever that trials and hardships are where God saves the most souls and in His time, we will get our eternal reward when we return home. All the sacrifices we make now will be more than worth it. Let's love like Christ!

Reflect today: How can you show the love of Christ in your actions today?

Dear Lord,

It isn't easy. I find it hard to love everyone. Please give me the strength to love the world for you. Help me to show your love in the actions I do today that someone could come to know you. I ask all these things in the name who saves.

Amen.