Heavenly Father I praise You for the love and mercy You have demonstrated to me. I praise You for teaching me and re teaching me what it means to love. I praise You for Your patience because this is not an area that I am very good at and I fail many times especially to those I care about the most.
Holy Spirit help me to understand that love is not words but actions. Help me to understand fully that love suffers long and is kind, it does not envy or become boastful and conceited. Love has many levels but to those I love the most my love must always be focused, unwavering and never seeks to go to others for fulfillment. Love is not lust and is not sinful. Love does not rejoice when people fail or fall. Love is about forgiveness, helping those who fall or fail to restore them. Love is willing to bear pain, burdens, heartaches and rejection. Love continues to believe in the good of people and to maintain hope and faith that God will prevail in all situations. Love is simple and true. Love goes deeper in who we are and what we are to others and God.
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” [John 3:16-21] Help me to love the light, to let the light shine through me to others and to be the beacon when needed.
Holy Spirit I know I will never love as well as You love me. Help me to grow in love and to learn to express love and to love on others as Christ loved on people when he was here on the earth. Help me to find a way to demonstrate my love to my family and to my friends. Let my hope and faith grow, but most of all help me to learn to love, forgive and demonstrate grace to all people. In Jesus’ name, amen.