Spirit and Life Devotional is a daily publication by Pastor Chinaemerem Ibezim, senior pastor of Able Ministers Chapel, a church based in Calabar, Cross River State.
“But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.” – I Thessalonians 4:9 NKJV
God is the best teacher in the world. He knows everything. But that’s not what makes Him the best teacher: what makes Him the best is the fact that He teaches us by examples. He teaches by examples that we might have a pattern, and also that we might know that what He’s asking us to do is possible to be done.
God teaches us to love by first loving us. 1 John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” And then, verse 11 says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
God didn’t just give to us; He gave with good intentions – that we might live. In this season of giving, don’t do things for people with the wrong motives. Don’t give to be seen; don’t give so that you can get praises from men; don’t give also because of what you intend to receive or gain in the future; let your giving not be for selfish ambitions but for the benefit of the recipients. Give that the hungry may be satisfied; give that the needy may be glad; give that God may be glorified!
Merry Christmas!
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