Thursday's "devo"

Dear Friends in Christ -
Today, our youth missionaries are reading and praying through these devotions . . . thanks for taking a few minutes to join them in ministry by praying with them this way!
Blessings,
J+

THEME: Less ego, More love!

Think about this statement:
This week is not about me and what I can do;
it’s about Jesus and what Jesus’ love is doing.
Do you believe that?

EGO (ee - goh): An exaggerated sense of self-importance; conceit.
Sometimes our view of our own importance, or our ego, can get in the way of fully
loving others.
Is your ego keeping you from fully loving others?

Read the paraphrase of part of 1 Corinthians 13 below:

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a
martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe,
and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us
toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.
And the best of the three is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:3–7, 12–13, The Message

Go back and read that passage again – slower this time. Take note of any part of “loving others” that you have a hard time doing. Be honest with yourself.
Ask God to help you love others better.

Where do you need less ego – less “me” things – to better “love extravagantly” today?

How can you love people better in the places you spend time every day - at work, at home, at the gym, at the PTO . . .?