Anchored With Love - The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge
Anchored with Love
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding . . . so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Philippians 1:9-11
Paul gets it right in these words of encouragement to the believers in Philippi. It begins with love—love for God. But as we grow as believers, as we share with other followers of Christ desiring to grow in their relationships with Him, we add knowledge, insight, understanding, and implementation through action into the mix. But love is primary.
Growth in knowledge and understanding of God’s ways, His will, and His purpose for our lives will come as we grow in fellowship with Him and perhaps through our fellowship with others.
The Bible is full of stories and examples to demonstrate the incredible love of God for you and me. The most familiar verse that epitomizes that, of course, is John 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
One of my favorite examples of God’s love in the Bible is this scene toward the end of the Prodigal Son story: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20, NIV). The story isn’t just about a wayward first-century son returning home. It illustrates the love of God for all His children. God runs to us to embrace us when we turn back to Him, no matter where we have gone to get away from Him, what we have done, or how much we have disappointed and hurt Him. God’s love and forgiveness looks past our mistakes and shortcomings.
Living in this world isn’t easy, with all of its snares, traps, temptations, and pitfalls. God knows that. Living the kind of life Christ calls us to live—pure and blameless and marked by love—is even more difficult. However, with God’s love for us and our love for Him and for others guiding our steps, we have an anchor for our lives.
Uncommon Key > God never gets tired of hearing us say, “I love You, Father.” Run to Him often today and say it.
