Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. Thank you for the gift of love, of yourself. You are too grand for us to fully comprehend, to understand your existence and your eternal nature, but we are forever thankful that you created us and through the sacrifice of your Son, by faith, brought us into relationship with you to receive your love, and through the filling of your Holy Spirit, experience its depth, and be given the ability to love you and love others.
Father we ask for forgiveness for the times we’ve failed to love. They are too numerous for us to name, but we ask that you would heal the hearts of those we’ve caused pain, and we thank you for softening our own hearts and granting us repentance and new mercies to begin again.
Hold onto us, Lord, and give us willing hearts to obey you. Keep us from even the temptation to sin, knowing that allowing sin would begin to harden our hearts and break the precious communion we have with you. And when we do sin, help us to quickly repent, so we can abide in your love again.
May we be quick to take the love you give us and your example and love others, our brothers and sisters in the faith, and those who have yet to come to you, and to love our enemies, remembering that
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
This is how you love, Lord, and this is how we want to love, too. Help us understand more and more the scope of it so we can love others in a way that glorifies you.
In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen.
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