Intentional Love
May 22, 2019 by Cheri Cowell
Filed under Daily Devotions, Life Topics
By Cheri Cowell –
One of my favorite photos from childhood was taken Easter morning on the front steps of my grandparent’s home. My sister and I are smiling from ear to ear fashioning our new Easter dresses, hats, and gloves. Each year I looked forward to the month of February when my mother and I would travel to the fabric store to pick out the material for my new Easter dress. And of course, I couldn’t have a new dress without new shoes and a hat to match! God applies the same principle to our “new clothes” in Christ.
“Now that we have been cleansed…” Even if I didn’t get new shoes to go with my new Easter dress, I would have, at the very least, cleaned and polished my old shoes to likenew. As Christians we have a new spirit given to us. We have new clothes for our souls, yet many times we act as if we can continue to wear our old shoes. These old shoes have wear patterns in their soles that cause us to walk in a certain way. This scripture reminds us that we need to put on new shoes to go with our new clothes. Those new shoes are for the love-walk we are to have in our lives. Because of His Spirit of Love within us, we can love others with a sincerity that only comes from Him. Therefore, since we can love, we should love intentionally and with intensity. That is what a love walk looks like—intentional and intensely personal.
PRAYER: Thank You for cleansing me of my sins and for giving me Your Spirit of love. Help me become intentional today about loving others with an intensity that equals Your sacrifice.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22 NIV).
Today’s devotion is by Cheri Cowell, who writes and speaks on topics of Christian discipleship. In addition to her books and articles, you can learn about her speaking ministry and sign up to receive her daily devotional at www.CheriCowell.com
Cheri Cowell is the author of the new Bible study, Parables and Word Pictures of the New Testament: Following God series http://www.CheriCowell.com
That’s a really big prayer, Cheri, it nearly took my breath away. Let’s all have the courage to pray it, and see what the Lord does with it! What a love that is. Your message reminds me of a song my boys sang when they were little: “I want to walk, walk like Jesus. I want to go wherever He goes. I want to walk, walk like Jesus, for I know He loves me so.”
My sister and I have very similar pictures. Your message has made those pictures seem even more special! Thank you!