Right Here Right Now Part 5
Penned Truth: True legacy is found in our values, character, and spiritual impact on those around us and those who come after us. Leaving A Legacy That Counts
Legacy Defined: Oxford- Long lasting impact
1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (ESV) 13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Dwight L. Moody- If we have got the true love of God shed abroad in our hearts, we will show it in our lives. We will not have to go up and down the earth proclaiming it. We will show it in everything we say or do.
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary | LOVE: Unselfish, benevolent intention and commitment toward another. Benevolent Meaning Being Intentionally Kind
Matthew 5:43–47 (ESV) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
1 John 3:11–16 (ESV) 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 4:7–9 (ESV) 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:11-12 (ESV) 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Romans 13:8–10 (ESV) 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
1 Corinthians 16:14 (ESV) 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
Jack Hyles- Love is the doorway through which the human soul passes from selfishness to service.
Penned Note: Ask God for grace not to run away, but to keep engaging people in love, especially to that hard-to-love person.
1. Pray for your own heart.
Colossians 3:12-14 (EXB) 12 ·God loves you and has chosen you and made you his holy people. So [ As God’s chosen, holy and beloved ones;] you should always clothe yourselves with ·mercy [ a heart of compassion], kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 ·Bear with [Make allowances for; Be patient with] each other, and forgive each other. If someone ·does wrong to you [ has a grievance/complaint against someone], forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. 14 ·Even more than all this [Above all], clothe yourself in love, which ·holds you all together in perfect unity [or binds everything together; is the bond of perfection/completeness].
2. Pray for them! Ask God to be at work in their hearts.
Philippians 1:9-11 (EXB) 9 This is my prayer for you: that your love will ·grow [increase; abound] more and more; that you will have knowledge and ·understanding [insight; discernment]with your love; 10 that you will ·see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good [ discern/test and prove what is best]; that you will be pure and ·without wrong [blameless] ·for the coming [in the day;] of Christ; 11 that you will be filled with the ·good things produced in your life by Christ [L fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ] to bring glory and praise to God.
3. Move toward them, not away from them.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (MSG) 9-11. . . So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. . .
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that my life displays Your divine nature this morning: I would be clothed entirely in “God Is Love.” Father, I pray that I will love the people around me to the point that I will love even those who treat me poorly. Lord, they may call me their enemy, but I will love them anyway. Holy Spirit, I thank you for helping me to leave a Legacy of Love that others can follow. No more excuses! I chose to move forward and leave a legacy of Love and a strong Spiritual Impact. I pray this in the Name of Jesus! Amen!
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