As I started today I needed to find a new devotional to start. What a great word to see as my next devotional topic AGAPE – agape (/ɑːˈɡɑːpeɪ, ˈɑːɡəˌpeɪ, ˈæɡə-/;[1][2] from Ancient Greek ἀγάπη (agápē)) is unconditional love, “the highest form of love, charity” and “the love of God for man and of man for God”. What a way to kick off a Sunday and consider how it is a 3-day devotional means we will need to find another one for Wednesday! What a way to kick off the calendar week with the topic of the highest form of love! What a way to kick off the calendar week with the topic of unconditional love! Let’s be the dads who love unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love our wives unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love our kids unconditionally! Let’s be the dads who love others unconditionally so that they may experience God’s presence in and through our lives! Let’s dig in to get all this devotional has to offer! In the description from Bible.com we read about how “Vance K. Jackson leads readers in this heart-transforming message. God is Love. There is no comparison to the Love of God. Let His Love fill every void. There is nothing that can replace His Love. There is nothing that can compete with His Love. Let the Love of God serve as the foundation of every area of your heart as you read this timely message.” Such an intro makes me so excited to read and learn and share what I find with each of you.
Let’s check out our scriptures for today’s devotional:
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ‘
1 Corinthians 13:4
What is so amazing to me is when I grab hold of how the Bible tells us that God is love and then in 1 Corinthians 13 we get the definition of love. When bringing the two concepts together, we can replace the word love with God within the definition. Let’s pause for a second and look at the scriptures and the outcome of doing just that.
‘Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ‘
1 John 4:8
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ‘
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
So since we know God is love that means we can rewrite or meditate on the reality that:
‘God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.’
Imagine if we could be the dads who are love. Imagine if we could be the dads who can live our lives unconditionally loving our wives, our kids, and everyone God brings into our lives. Imagine a world with dads who love unconditionally and could live out their lives as the love in 1 Corinthians where we choose to live our lives out so that it could be rewritten as:
Dad is patient, Dad is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. Dad does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Dad never fails.
Let’s be the dads who choose to aim to become 1 Corinthians 13 dads. Let’s be the dads who choose to become more like God with the aim of becoming 1 Corinthians 13 dads. Let’s jump into what today’s devotional has to share and teach us!
Today’s devotional has been provided by Vance K. Jackson (http://www.VanceKJackson.com).
Reading through today’s devotional, here are some takeaways for me:
(check out the devotional on your own too to see if you pick up other nuggets, and please share your findings in the comments)
For more information, please visit http://www.VanceKJackson.com (About The Publisher).
Takeaways from Today’s Devotional:
“Agape: A Father’s Love.“
- Today’s devotional starts with today’s verse using the King James Version which says:
- Today’s devotional speaks to God’s LOVE and shares these powerful truths:
- “God is Love.“
- “There is no comparison to the Love of God.“
- “Let His Love fill every void.“
- “There is nothing that can replace His Love.“
- “There is nothing that can compete with His Love.“
- “Let the Love of God serve as the foundation of every area of your heart.“
- “Let the Love of God serve as the bedrock and framework for every area of your life. “
- Today’s devotional wants to allow us to look at today’s verse using different translations too including the AMPC and NLT.
- “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.” – AMPC version of 1 Corinthians 13:4
- “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.” – NLT version of 1 Corinthians 13:4
- Today’s devotional helps us dig deeper into the word agape using Strong’s Concordance which teaches us:
- Let’s be the dads who let our hearts “reflect the Love of God in every area of our lives“!
- Let’s be the dads who let our hearts “reflect the Love of Christ in all of your relationships“!
- Let’s be the dads who “let God’s Love lead our hearts“!
- Let’s be the dads who “let God’s Love guide your heart“!
- Let’s be the dads who cling to the reality that “God’s Love never fails“!
- Let’s be the dads who cling to the reality that “God’s Love never falters“!
- Let’s be the dads who cling to the reality that “God’s Love is everlasting“!
- Let’s be the dads who cling to the reality that “God never fails“!
- Let’s be the dads who “Pattern our lives after God’s Love“!
- Let’s be the dads who “Pattern our relationships after God’s Love“!
- Let’s be the dads who “Choose to forgive freely“!
- Let’s be the dads who “Let His Love radiate in every area of your life“!
- Let’s be the dads who “Choose to Love others how God Loves us“!
- Let’s be the dads who realize that “God’s Love extends beyond human comprehension“!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to “Let God’s Love make us complete“!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to “Let God’s Love make us whole“!
- Let’s be the dads who choose to “Let God’s Love set us free“!
