What's on your bucket list for the New Year? Many of us have great plans for this year, and we're slowly figuring out how to make them a reality. But many times, we don't consider establishing value-based plans – plans which will bring good to others, and not simply fulfill our own desires.
Oscar Hammerstein, a famous lyricist, once penned this profound quote: “A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it, A song's not a song 'til you sing it, Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, Love isn't love 'til you give it away!” Scripture reveals God as the author of love and that he loved us before we knew or loved him. Our task is to follow Christ's example of self-giving love. Therefore, we may need to ask ourselves, “What are things Jesus did that we can do likewise with his help?” Jesus felt compassion. He displayed mercy countless times in various contexts, and his greatest act was at Calvary when he offered himself up for our sins out of love.
Is it easy to love? Certainly not if we rely exclusively on our own strength. But, as Oscar Hammerstein pointed out, what is the point of retaining everything for ourselves? God, the author of love, put his love in us with the desire that we express it to one another. When we look at things from that perspective, loving is possible. If we are believers in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us to enable us to follow the pattern of love which God has revealed to us.
Let it be our New Year's resolution to make Christ's love the driving force behind everything we do or say or think.
Dear Lord, I thank you for loving and embracing me as your own. Teach me how to express the love that I have received to everyone you send my way. Amen
Throughout the Day: Spend time focusing on what 1 John 4:7-21 says about loving one another. As the Holy Spirit inspires you, choose today to walk in love.