Hey Friends of Thrive Community Church. I found this verse interesting in today's One Year Bible Reading (http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com). It's from Revelation 2:
4 "But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first!"
I am used to this verse saying "you left your first love" and it always refers to Jesus. But here in the New Living Translation, the love we are to have does not just include Jesus, but others as well. That's so good! Churches are notorious for having people who say they love Jesus, but can't get along! What if as a church, we decided at Thrive to judge our love for Jesus by how well we accept others and their issues? After all, to quote last week's message, "...all God's children got issues...".
The above verse also highlights for us at Thrive our 1st two of the four Core Values, so it's a good one for us - 1) Love God & 2) Love Others.
For inquiring minds, Core Values three & four are: 3) Do your Best 4) Have Fun!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, it's so easy to say we love you, yet often so difficult to accept others in the church as they are because they can be so irritating. Forgive me for my hypocrisy. You accept me with all my issues and faults, ought I to do the same? By your spirit, soften my heart today, that I might accept others for who they are, the Good with the bad. May I maintain healthy boundaries, but never forget to give others the benefit of the doubt.
Amen
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