Lord, it is Your will that I learn the way of perfect love. Human love, refreshing as it is, cannot begin to be compared with God’s perfect love. That kind of love is described in 1 Corinthians 13; it is demonstrated in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Human love is bargain hunting—I will love you if you love me; but divine love is philanthropy—I will love you regardless of cost or return.
I must not love my fellow human beings less than Jesus Christ loved me. Just as He loved the very ones who drove the nails into His hands, so I must love my fellow worker who stabs me in the back, my neighbor who spreads lies and scandals about me, or a member of my family who returns my love with surly disobedience and rebellion Perfect love cannot be insulted! People criticize this kind of love by saying, Yes, but they’ll take advantage of you! Is that the worst thing possible, to be taken advantage of? All men and women who have dared to follow Christ have been taken advantage of, even as then Lord and Master was before them. Is that a crime?
But let me also consider this: When people take advantage of me, God fills in the gap. If they give me the worst room in the hotel, God will fill that room with His glory. If they give me the worst of companions to put up with, God will transform that companion into His image. In short, when I obey God and let His perfect love fill my heart, He takes the responsibility of making His will more profitable than the will of the world.
Perfect love is not a formula; it is a Person. As I allow the Holy Spirit to fill me, perfect love will become my rule, not my exception. I will walk in love, just as Christ also loved [me], and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (Ephesians 5:2).
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him (John 12:26).
Daily with the King 