Jan 232 min read

Day 280 - Placing Love Above All Else: A Lifelong Journey of Kindness and Understanding

Can you put love as the most crucial part of your life? It is vital to a lifelong journey of kindness.

Let no evil talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for giving necessary teaching, and for grace to those who give ear.

And do not give grief to the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were marked for the day of salvation.

Let all bitter, sharp and angry feeling, and noise, and evil words, be put away from you, with all unkind acts;

And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ had forgiveness for you. (Ephesians 4.29-32 Bible in Basic English (BBE))

The Bible repeatedly reminds us to be kind to each other and to put love over anger. How successful are you at placing love above all else? For all of us, perfecting this is a lifelong journey. For some, it is easy. For others, not so much. Temper is fear of someone thinking less of us than we would like or fear that something will happen in our lives that we will not want. Fear of losing control because we wrongly believe we are in control. We can grow angry for many reasons, but we can also lessen our anger with the thought of God. Taking a moment to focus on the Lord can destroy anger and bring peace. Just reach out with "help me," and the Lord will hear. Open your heart, and you will most likely find relief. Just thinking about the thought can help you begin to let go of your angst if you believe your request will be heard and acted upon.

Prayer:

Lord, I cry out for release from my anger. Help me stop it from starting and to stop it if anger does come quickly. I love you and want to love others, mirroring your example of your love for Jesus. Love doesn't mean doing everything for another person, but it means forgiving them and having real feelings for them no matter what they do. Allow me to turn the other cheek and fully and completely forgive anyone I feel has slighted me. They likely have no memory of the event, yet I let deep anger keep me from loving them. Please help me with this and all the things I need to change to have a lifelong journey of kindness as I make my way toward home. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen