Encouragements to Love #7—Above and Beyond

May the Lord cause you to abound increasingly in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you, so that your hearts become established as blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. 1 Thessalonians 3:12–13

As hard as we try to obey what God is teaching us about loving others constantly and consistently, we probably recognize, if we’re being honest with ourselves, that we could do more, and better. Fortunately, we’re not left to our own devices or our own determination. We can pray that the Lord will cause us to go above and beyond in our loving. And not just that we will love more, but that we will love with more and more knowledge and insight, so that we can decide how best to express our love in every situation. We can expect him to answer this prayer because this is how he who is able to do more abundantly than we could ask or think glorifies himself and increases his joy in us. As he causes us to love more and more, our hearts become like diamonds to him, brilliantly beautiful, flawlessly clear, and utterly valuable. While we live in this age, others will see the love that we display, especially to one another, and recognize us as his disciples. Jesus rejoices in this. When he returns for us and examines the motives of our hearts, he will find no fault in how loving he has enabled us to become, for loving hearts have made us holy people.

So, Lord, I ask that you cause me to increase in how much and how well I love those your send my way.