Wish You Could be More Loving?

Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us. 1 John 4:19 (TPT)

Do you wish you could be more loving? Most of us do, but is this accomplished just by building a few new habits? Or is it something you need to develop inside? Actually, it has to be both.

Over the last two days we’ve been discussing what happens when you foster a deep, internal belief. Every day, we need to choose to believe and put effort into walking out God’s promises, and this gets easier over time. The more you build hope by spending time in God’s Word, the more you come to expect God’s promises in your life, and the more you will walk them out.

Choosing to be more loving is very similar. It’s something you develop inside. As a believer, you’ve been empowered to love others, but being more loving isn’t just about doing more loving things like saying the right words, buying gifts or giving great hugs. All those are great, but we all want to be able to authentically love people, not just put on a show.

Love will always be a choice, but you can also develop it on the inside. One key to developing this love walk is to know how loved you are. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier it is to love people—especially when they aren’t being very lovable. His love comes first, as our verse today makes clear, and God empowers you to love others, even when you think it’s impossible.

Meditate on God’s love for you today, and realize how precious you really are to Him. Then let that love pour out in your world. Here are some scriptures to start with: John 3:16, Romans 8:37–39, Ephesians 2:4–5, Romans 5:8, Zephaniah 3:17, Psalm 86:15.