Devotion for January 12
By Bryan Chapell

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

Love for God produces more love. That is why Jesus says love for God is the greatest commandment. When loving him is our highest priority and greatest desire, then we also love what and whom he loves. As a result, our love for God becomes the basis for living for him and caring for others.

The grace of God that stimulates such love for God will not allow us to settle into a cozy sweater of self-absorbed satisfaction that ignores a hurting world. A heart captivated by grace beats with God’s love and concern for his world.

That’s why Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. If we love God deeply, we will love our neighbors too, reflecting his love for us in the way that we love others. Because we love Jesus, we love all those he loves.

Prayer:
Father, I know that we live in a hurting world. Please help me to sense deeply your grace toward me, so that as my heart responds in love for you, I will love all that you love.

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