TUESDAY: COMPELLED TO LOVE
KEY PASSAGE
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! … We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors…
DEVOTIONAL
Do you remember the first time you felt the love of Jesus? Maybe you were heartbroken and you had an undeniable encounter with Him that encouraged your spirit. Or you were sick and experienced a radical healing that filled you with joy. Maybe you were in a Sunday School classroom as a kid and heard the gospel for the first time and were overcome with awe. Or your grandma dragged you to church and the sermon preached straight to your soul and in that moment you knew God has always seen you.
I don’t know what that moment was like for you but my guess is, if you are reading this devotional, your story feels something like this: I was lost, but now I’m found. I was blind, but now I see… At some point, you encountered the love of God. And at some point, you decided to love Him back. With those memories in mind, re-read the key passage.
You are Christ’s ambassador to bring the gospel forth. Not because you are obligated, but because His love compels you.
Compel means “to bring something about by force or pressure.” If you are compelled to do something, you can’t help but do it. The gospel pours out of you because of the love God pours into you.
CHALLENGE
If you currently see your life with God through the lens of obligation, take a break from whatever you feel obligated to do. Ask God for an outpouring of His love into your life. Give Him time and space to do this for you.
If you are living out of God’s love for you but are struggling to love someone, tell God why that person is hard to love. Then ask God to reframe the way you see them, no longer from a worldly point of view, but as someone who could be or who is a new creation is Christ Jesus.