OUR DAILY BREAD 5TH SEPTEMBER 2024 DEVOTIONAL, THURSDAY ODB MESSAGE
Our Daily Bread 5th September 2024 Devotional TOPIC: Grace Now
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
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BIBLE IN A YEAR: Psalms 146-147; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28
KEY VERSE: It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5
TODAY’S INSIGHT
Writing to a divided church in conflict and deficient in love, Paul instructed the believers at Corinth how to love one another and described what true love looks like (1 Corinthians 13:4-13). Jesus taught that love is a requirement for those who believe in Him. Loving God and our neighbor are the most important commandments for “the entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40 nlt).
Building on the original standard of “love your neighbor as yourself” (v. 39), Christ sets a higher standard, patterned now after His sacrificial love. He wants us to “love one another [as] I have loved you” (John 13:34). Calling it a new commandment, Jesus said love was the distinguishing mark of those who believe in Him (v. 35). Loving others is proof that we’re God’s children who’ve experienced His love (1 John 4:7-12, 19-21).
Our Daily Bread 5th September 2024 MESSAGE
We hurried to a fast-food restaurant to have lunch together on my friend Jerrie’s short work break. Arriving at the door about the same time, six young men got inside just in front of us. Knowing we didn’t have much time to spare, we grumbled inwardly. They stood as a group at both registers to be sure each of them could order first. Then I heard Jerrie whisper to herself, “Show grace now.” Wow! Sure, letting us go first would have been nice, but what a great reminder to think of others’ needs and desires and not only my own.
The Bible teaches that love is patient, kind, and unselfish; it’s “not easily angered” (1 Corinthians 13:5). “It often . . . prefers [others’] welfare, and satisfaction, and advantage, to its own,” wrote commentator Matthew Henry of this love. God’s kind of love thinks of others first.
In a world where many of us are easily irritated, we frequently have occasion to ask God for help and the grace to choose to be patient with others and to be kind (v. 4). Proverbs 19:11 adds, “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
That’s the kind of loving action that brings honor to God, and He might even use it to bring thoughts of His love to others.
With God’s strength, let’s take every opportunity to show grace now.
REFLECT: In what ways might you need to not act out of frustration? How could turning to God help you?
PRAY: I’m in need of Your help, God. I face many levels of irritation but want to instead be filled and overflowing with Your kind of love.
Our Daily Bread 5th September 2024 Devotional, Thursday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet
