As you start today, be the dads who love first, love your wife first and your kids first just as God loved you first. Now stepping into today, let’s be filled with God’s love to overflowing so that we can be the dads who love our wife and kids more. Let’s make today count and live up to a higher calling from God!
Love First:
In the realm of fatherhood, the concept of “love first” is rooted in the biblical principle of putting others before oneself, mirroring God’s sacrificial love for us. Ephesians 5:25 (NIV) encourages fathers, stating, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” This serves as a powerful reminder for dads to prioritize their love for their wives as Christ prioritizes His love for the church.
As a dad, your first and foremost act of love is directed towards your family, following the divine example. In Mark 12:30-31 (NIV), Jesus instructs, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Your family, especially your wife and children, are your closest neighbors, and by loving them first, you fulfill this essential commandment.
Love More:
Building on the foundation of “love first,” the biblical principle of “love more” encourages fathers to continuously deepen and expand their love for their families. 1 Corinthians 16:14 (NIV) advises, “Do everything in love.” This includes consistently demonstrating love through your actions, words, and presence in your family’s life.
To “love more” is to go beyond the initial expression of love, aiming for a love that grows and flourishes daily. Colossians 3:14 (NIV) affirms this by stating, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” As a dad, you are called to bind your family together through a love that goes beyond mere words and encompasses actions that strengthen the unity of your household.
In conclusion, being a dad who loves first and loves more is a journey guided by biblical principles, reflecting the selfless and boundless love that God has shown us. May your commitment to love in this way lead to a legacy of faith, unity, and love within your family.
This year I am using the 365 Daily Devotions book I received for Christmas and applying it towards being dads. It’s called WALKING WITH GOD by DAVID JEREMIAH. It’s exciting to get to learn from a new resource this year as we have tried different options the past two years and will keep working through this one for 2024. For more information about the author and his ministry, visit: DavidJeremiah.org.
Topic: THE SURPRISE OF GOD’S LOVE
Verse: Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God loved us first so that we can follow His lead and love our wives, kids, and world first. This love is unconditional just as God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners, we can love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us on top of loving our family first so that we can love more. Let’s be the dads who are sacrificially loving our wives, kids, and world just as God demonstrated His love for us through Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross for us all.
Being counter culture
Today’s Devotional starts out speaking to how Jesus shocked the world when He explained how we are to love our enemies in Matthew 5 where we read:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Debunked
Today’s Devotional speaks to how Jesus debunked what society’s norms and weight was around being able to hate your enemies when He told the people “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. In Today’s Devotional, they show how in Romans 5, Paul adds on top of that to a new level of love, God’s love where going above love your enemy, it speaks to how Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners, we didn’t do anything to earn it or deserve it, it was a gift through grace from God. In Romans 5:7, preceding today’s verse, we read:
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
Today, let’s follow God’s model and love others, not because they deserve it or earned it but rather because God said to and has modeled it as our Heavenly Father so that we can be the dads who bring Him praise, honor, and glory. Let’s love them even before we are reconciled to them just God loved us before we accepted Jesus and were reconciled to Him.
Today’s Devotional closes by calling us to live “counter culture” by loving everyone including our enemies. The challenge Today’s Devotional gives us is this: “God loves both His friends and enemies, as should we. If there is someone unlovely in your life today, surprise him or her with your love.”
You never so touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.
CORRIE TEN BOOM
