Daily Readings at Southeast

  Respond to Evil With Good “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  Luke 6:27-28 (NIV) The Bible says in Luke 6:27-28,  “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”  (NIV). Notice these three verbs: “ do  good to those,” “ bless  those,” and “ pray  for those.” A big part of forgiveness is responding to evil with good. How do you know when you’ve genuinely forgiven somebody? You can pray for God to bless that person. When you learn to forgive, you not only see your own hurt, but you see their hurt, too. Then you start to understand why they acted in such evil, selfish, hurtful, or abusive ways. The truth is, hurt people hurt people. You say, “But you don’t know how they’ve hurt me.” No, I don’t. And I’m sorry for every hurt you’ve experienced. But I do know this: You’re never going to get on with your life unless you forgive and let it go. That doesn’t ...

  Speaking Truth in Love Means Taking a Risk “In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery.”  Proverbs 28:23 (TLB) It’s scary to speak the truth in love. The reason we stuff our feelings and hide the issues in our relationships is because we fear the possible consequences. We let fear become greater than our love. Speaking the truth in love means taking a great risk! And because we don’t want to take that risk, we sometimes settle for superficial, shallow relationships. My wife, Kay, and I were pros at this early in our marriage. We repressed the truth, we hid our feelings, and we ignored issues. We swept everything under the rug to try to maintain the status quo in our marriage. Your love for the other person must outweigh the risk of rejection from them. You must be willing to absorb the initial anger of a loving confrontation because of your love for that person. And that takes enormous courage. Maybe you’ve not felt loving toward someone for weeks or months o...

  Five Ways To Relax in God’s Grace and Love “Be careful that no one fails to receive God’s grace.”  Hebrews 12:15 (NCV) How do you learn to R.E.L.A.X. in the freedom of God’s grace? R—R ealize nobody’s perfect. Psalm 119:96 says,  “Nothing is perfect except [the Lord’s] words”  (TLB). What society tells you isn’t perfect. What popular opinion tells you isn’t perfect. What you learned growing up isn’t perfect. But the Bible is perfect. And when you get in the Bible and build your life on it, you will have a perfect foundation to rely on. E—E njoy God’s unconditional love. The Bible says,  “See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children—think of it—and we really  are !”  (1 John 3:1 TLB). When you become a follower of Christ, you take on a role of service to him—but you’re more than a servant! The Bible says you become a child of the King. A servant is accepted on the basis of what he does; a child is accepted...

  You Are the Object of God’s Love “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 (GNT) God loves you so much that he sent Jesus on a mission of love with a message of love. The Bible doesn’t say God  has  love; it says in 1 John 4:8, “ God is love ” (NIV). Love is his nature. God created the entire universe. He created this planet. He created the human race. And he created you because he  loves  you. The reason you’re alive is because God created you as an object of his love. He made you so he could love you and so that you could love him. His love for you is the reason your heart’s beating right now; it’s the reason you’re breathing. He loves you on your good days as much as your bad days. That’s amazing news! He loves you when you can feel his love, and he loves you when you can’t seem to feel it. He loves you whether or not you think you deserve it. Nothing ...

  If You Want To Be Kind, Open Your Eyes “Look out for the good of others.”  1 Corinthians 10:24 (NCV) Kindness always begins with your eyes—the way you observe the world and are sensitive to the needs of other people. In Luke 10:33, it says of the Good Samaritan,  “When he saw [the man’s condition], his heart was filled with pity”  (GNT). Notice that  “he saw.”  That is the starting point. If you want to learn to be a kinder person, you’ve got to change the way you look at the world. Hurry is the death of kindness. If you’re going to learn to be a kinder person, you’ve got to slow down! When you’re always distracted with other things, you don’t have time to be kind. The first step to kindness is to ask God to give you a spiritual radar so you can be on the lookout for people who are hurting emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Maybe you were born with this gift. You automatically sense when people around you are in need. If that doesn’t describe you, ...

  Nothing Matters Without Love “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.”  Galatians 5:6 (CEV) God says what matters in life is not your accomplishments or your achievements or your fame or your wealth. The only thing that matters is having a faith that causes you to love other people. If you miss that, you have missed the most important thing in life. The most famous chapter in the Bible on love is 1 Corinthians 13. In the first few verses of this passage, Paul emphasized that the most important thing in life is love. Here are the five reasons why: If you don’t live a life of love . . . Nothing you say will matter. Nothing you know will matter. Nothing you believe will matter. Nothing you give will matter. Nothing you accomplish will matter. The Bible says,  “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do have not love, I am only a resounding gong or...