Powerful Love

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May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 CEB

The other day my roommate and I were in Hobby Lobby looking for some Christmas decorations. We were walking up and down the aisles trying to find some good decorations to help us get in the holiday spirit. Every aisle we went down we found a billion things we loved (of course because it’s Hobby Lobby). As we walked down this one aisle, for probably the 5th time, I said something along the lines of “oh man everything is so cute, this is dangerous, maybe we shouldn’t have come here”. Right after I said it, a woman in the same aisle said “I know! Isn’t Hobby Lobby the best!”. We joked about how much money we were going to spend, and how we definitely shouldn’t have come to the store that night. This short interaction put the biggest smile on my face, and filled me with so much joy. Now this may just be because I have a dangerous obsession with Hobby Lobby, but I mainly think it is because of the women we talked with. This stranger decided that instead of the usual store behavior of looking down and avoiding eye contact, she was going to talk to two weird college students gushing over the stocking aisle. This odd interaction reminded me how much we can affect the people around us.
You know when you’re having a bad day, or you’re in a bad mood, but then someone comes along and does something to totally turn it around? We have the power to turn peoples days around, and to bring some joy into their lives. 1 John 4:19 says “we love because he first loved us”. God has showed us an insurmountable amount of love. When we have felt that love and we have that love inside of us we can share it with the people around us. This verse from 1 Thessalonians tell us that God’s love helps us to love each other. This can be a difficult season for many reasons. School, family, money, all the crazy around Christmas, all adds up to make a stressful few months. What would it be like if we made a conscious effort to bring joy to at least one persons life everyday? What if we started a conversation with a random person in Hobby Lobby, or before school in the hallway? When we let God fill us with His love, this same love comes pouring out of us. There are endless ways to show God’s love to the people we interact with. Let God fill you up with His love, grace, and hope. Take that love and show it to everyone around you. You have the power to brighten someone's day today, use it!

To Read More: 1 Thessalonians 3

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