Tag: Humble

Be Tender from the Heart

“8Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8 (ESV)

Peter has been indicating submission, whether to authority or your husband or wife. In the above verse, he is giving the approach to that submission, including with a tender heart.

I have to remember that it is not my words, but my heart that the LORD is reviewing. He lives in my heart and I am to live from the inside and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me from my heart. And where I am to fear the wrath of God, I also have to remember that He is a gentle and caring God that loves me and wants only the best for me. I have to give that same approach to those around me.

I have to have a tender heart when doing the LORD’s Work in this world. There are those who will want to wreck me and all that I am doing for the LORD. I have to defend the LORD, but that defense is in a tender and loving way that comes from my heart and Christ who resides there.

How do you approach the world? Are you treating it the way it treats you? What if you were to be tender with the world as the LORD is tender with you?

Choose God’s Love

“8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – 1 John 4:8 (ESV)

If God is love, then how could He allow difficult things to happen to us. Well, that is a good question and one that burns up the airwaves when there is a tragedy. I am sure that everyone has thought it at some point, I know that I have which now sends me right to His word to understand.

Here’s the thing, James MacDonald says it well, “God’s love is a protecting love, but it’s not a preventing love. God doesn’t always keep hard things from happening. Here’s why. He has a higher purpose for our pain:” He is right. There is a purpose in God’s plan for us and He will stop at nothing to have that purpose fulfilled by us.

MacDonald lists three reasons God allows the hard things, to humble us, to restore us, and to refine us. We are God’s precious creation and He demonstrates it through His hard love for us.

God is in it for the relationship He has with us. That relationship is not there if/when we are not close to Him. Yes, He is still our Heavenly Father, but He wants to interact with us and not just be there. Sometimes He allows things to happen to bring us back to Him. When those hard things happen He is getting our attention and we should look straight at Him and let Him know that we hear Him and need His guidance and love in dealing with it. And then we should be asking Him about what else He wants from us.

Hard things happen to us and it is just that, hard and I am sorry for the difficulty we experience. I am human and will continue to be hurt when these things occur. In dealing with it, we have to remember to turn to God and jump in His loving arms. It is okay and expected to grieve. It is okay and expected to feel hurt. And, it is also expected that we turn to Him and allow Him to show us the way through it. Was He bringing us back to Him after some time of our drift away or was He strengthening our faith in Him to resolve.

God is love and that is it. He spreads that love to us in different ways. It may be comfort and guidance or it could be through restoration and refinement. Either way God loves us and wants the best for us. I choose God’s love.

What is your view of God’s love? Do you expect all comfort and grace? What if you see God’s love as His strengthening you in your relationship with Him through comfort and guidance and restoration and refinement?