Loving Others When It's Hard - Your Nightly Prayer - March 14th

Lynette Kittle

: Follow devo Follow this devotional Follow author Follow this author

Your Nightly Prayer

Loving Others When It’s Hard
Your Nightly Prayer
By Lynette Kittle

TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” -Ephesians 4:32

SOMETHING TO PONDER

For as long as we live on earth, God assures us that He will love and forgive us now and forevermore. It’s almost too much for us to comprehend that even the sins we haven’t committed yet are already forgiven, washed by the blood of the Lamb. As Christians, forgiveness of our sins through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross comes with no expiration date, meaning the sins we have committed in the past, present, and future are forgiven, even before we commit them.

Yet, in our relationships with people, most of us limit how much sin our love will forgive others for, thinking and saying in our hearts and minds, if they do this or that, then our love stops for them, and it’s over, ending with no room for forgiveness and restoration of our relationship. Still, God extends immeasurable love and forgiveness to us, as 1 John 1:9 explains, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Although we often set rigid and unrealistic limitations on how much we’ll love and forgive others, God doesn’t limit His love and forgiveness for us, saying if you do this or that, it’s the end of our relationship, it’s over, and He won’t love us any longer or ever speak to us again.

Rather, God separates our sin from us because of His great love for us. As Psalm 103:11-12 describes, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

We receive His love and forgiveness without limits, as a standard for our own lives, believing He is willing to love and forgive us without limitations. As Isaiah 43:25 assures, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Yet many of us face scenarios in life where we think God doesn’t call us to love and forgive others in the same way, creating our own double standard by receiving God’s love and forgiveness for ourselves while withholding it from others. As God loves us and forgives our sins for His own sake, He calls us to love and forgive for our own sakes, too. Jesus explains to us in John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Remember, God calls us, even commands us, to extend the grace of His love and forgiveness to others, just like we receive it for ourselves. As Jesus said in John 13:34, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Dear Father,
My heart is deeply grateful to You for the grace You extend to me on a moment-by-moment, hour-by-hour, week-by-week, and year-by-year basis, never-endingly. Help me tonight and every night to extend this same grace you’ve given me to others by loving others when it’s hard and forgiving those who have hurt and wounded me, disappointed me, and sinned against me. Fill my heart with Your love and compassion, so that I might pray and forgive them for my own sake, as You do for me. Strengthen me to keep Your commandment to love them as You love me. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Are there individuals you’re having difficulty loving and forgiving tonight? If so, ask God to lead you in knowing how to love and forgive them as He loves you.

2. In considering how you have dealt with other people in life, are there times when you have been hard to love and forgive because of your actions and attitudes? Were there people who loved and forgave you? If so, how did they reach out to you with love and forgiveness?

3. Why not ask God to help you this week, to extend His grace especially to those whom you find hard to love and forgive?

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

Now that you've prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below!