ICS Daily Devotions
Love

2 Peter 5-7 (NKJV) But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

We have talked about the kindness of God when He extended grace and mercy towards us. A good part of godliness has to do with walking in agape love, in kindness, in graciousness and exercising self-control with all diligence.

Agape love will help us to ensure that people around us feel accepted by us. We are to love them unconditionally without considering whether they are worthy of our love. This is agape love whereas Phileo love is conditional. Nobody will be fully worthy of our love if we are to operate in Phileo love because all of us are imperfect. Therefore, God in all His wisdom has asked us to not Phileo love someone but to Agape love them then love will not fail.

Col 3:21 (NKJV) Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Children are facing tremendous pressure in the schools nowadays especially getting acceptance from their peers. Some individuals will tend to compare themselves with their peers in the aspect of their looks, physiques, athletic abilities, academic grades and other talents. The youth are very concerned about what their peers think of them. The added stress will be the expectations from their parents in terms of their academic excellence and the push to enter the Ivy League universities. While we should encourage our children to aim for the best , it should not be a condition for our love for them. We should love them unconditionally. Some children are naturally more gifted academically while others perform better in other areas. We should help them to excel in those areas where they are gifted and have a talent for it. Some parents would want their children to fulfill their ambitions and aspirations. If we are not careful then we are using Phileo love towards our children and cause them to feel rejected. If we are to agape love them, then they will feel accepted by us regardless of their performance in school.

God made us to be accepted in the beloved. He didn’t reject us despite of the periodic weakness of the flesh. He chose to see us in Christ. Likewise, we are to agape love our loved ones, friends and neighbors so that they are accepted by us. We will choose to extend grace and mercy when they have wronged us. We will choose to continue loving them. It is when we choose to use agape love then the people in the world will know that we are His disciples.

Sermon Series: How to Love (Part 3)