Abide in MeSample

LOVE

Main Idea: God’s all-knowing love means He sees every part of our lives and still chooses to faithfully love and care for us, inviting us to show that same unconditional love to others.

Reflect:

With blended and broken families, holidays and special occasions can get complicated. However, armed with God’s grace and forgiveness, I have been able to host and attend get-togethers with ex-husbands, their current partners, and my three daughters without feeling hate or resentment. I could not have done this without God in my life and the healing that comes with giving it all to Him.

Building on these experiences, I have learned that complete dependence on God is crucial, especially when life has thrown me curveballs such as the end of marriages, the death of a parent, and raising my daughters, many of those years as a single mother. During those times, I have never wanted for anything, and no matter how tight things were, He always provided. Despite all of that, the fact has always remained that God was faithful to bring me through those circumstances without losing hope or letting bitterness or hate fester in my heart. He has always been by my side and has never let me down, even when I haven’t made the best decisions or followed his instructions for life.

Because of this, I am very thankful for the never-ending, generous love of God, available to me regardless of my actions or choices. He allows me to share that love with others and give them a glimpse of how following God can change your heart.

Respond:

• How has God shown you faithful love even in your flaws and failures?
• Ask God to help you see people the way He sees them – fully known and deeply loved. When you feel yourself judging someone, pause and ask instead, “What might they be carrying that I can’t see?”

Hannah Mattson