1 Corinthians 13:13 “So these three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.”
I have shared with you a few times how I enjoy planting my flowers in the spring. Each year I look forward to going to a nursery and picking just the right variety of flowers. From an array of colors to the different kinds of flowers, I like to see what new creative ways I can plant them, different from the year before. I, of course, get my regular petunias but each year I try to mix the rest up with something new and different. It always amazes me each year at the variety of flowers offered and how many colors there are to choose from.
As I prepared my garden then planted my flowers I was reminded of God's greatness at creation. He was our first gardener and He told us He is our Vinedresser. He not only planted a variety of flowers, but He chose to also plant a different variety in our lives.
When the world was ready to stone her, Jesus knelt down and revealed the accuser’s sins. As they turned away, He reached out with forgiveness and acceptance of this woman and her past.
Although an outcast and not welcomed by many, Jesus at a well allowed this woman a new chance. He showed her she could walk away from her past and receive new life with Him, the Living Water.
Hated by everyone because he cheated them, Jesus calls out to him to get out of a tree so He could eat with him. With one word of acceptance this man's heart is changed and he gives back to all what he cheated them of and more.
Although his friends and wife told him it would be better if he just died instead of enduring all the pain and disease, God said ‘You will not kill him. He is my faithful friend, and I will be faithful to him.’
As you can see from these examples that Jesus has shown us a variety of ways to love. After all, God is love and we ought to show that love to others. Let's look at those varieties a little closer. Love between spouses. Love between a parent and a child. Love of a friend for another. Love for your country. Even love for your enemies.
And let's not forget Love's greatest story. Jesus’ love for us was enough to die on the cross. A love that freed us from sin and opened the door to our heavenly Father and guaranteed us a home in heaven. Selfless love for a world who did not deserve it.
With such a variety of love I am grateful for Jesus’ love for me, a sinner. He is the Cornerstone of my life and the Rock I can anchor my love to others on.
We too can show a variety of love to others. With everyone you meet you can choose to see them through the eyes of Jesus. It's easy to show love to our friends and family but let's also try to remember to show love like Jesus to the difficult people we may not necessarily get along with. We can ask the Lord to help show us new opportunities to show love to them.
Like the variety of flowers we grow, we each have the ability to share the variety of love like Jesus. Ask the Lord to help you become a person of faith and hope, but most of all, a person of love.
I hope you have been able to join me as we have been studying through 1 Peter and hopefully have learned a few new things along the way. Today we will be looking at
1 Peter 4:1-19. As always there is a short lesson to help further your study if you would like.
Lesson 7- 1 Peter 4:1-19- https://www.docdroid.net/hsgHpdL/1-peter-week-7-docx
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