Daily Devotional
Does God’s Love Shine Through You?

March 29, 2023

Ponder This

A woman once told a preacher, “You have brought me to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.” And the preacher said, “I’m grateful for that. I like to know how God uses me. What was it I preached that brought you to Christ?” She said, “It was nothing you preached. I was standing around when somebody criticized you to your face, and I watched you respond to that person with kindness. I knew that what you had was real.”

Love is kind. There are many people who are religious, but not necessarily kind. That’s the reason a little girl prayed, “Lord, make all the bad people good, and all the good people nice.” Love enables us to be patient. It enables us to be kind. It enables us not to envy. Envy and love don’t dwell in the same heart. Do you know how to see if you have love or not? If somebody else is being blessed and you rejoice, then you have love. If you cringe when other people are being praised, there’s no love in your heart. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.”

• When have you felt justified to be unkind to someone else?
• What causes you to envy others?

Practice This

Assess where envy might live in your heart. Submit this before the Lord and ask Him to lead you to love others.