Our Father in heaven wants very much to be an active Father in our lives.

However, He will not control us as though we are puppets.
We hope that the meditations will encourage you to deepen your bonds with Him in this most vital relationship of our lives.

10 - True Love
Matthew 5
46. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much.
47. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that.
48. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
LB

Acting in love towards people who are outside our own little group, is not the usual thing.

Reaching out to people outside of our own little clique is behaving like our heavenly Father.

After all, that's what He did when He reached out to us!

He was perfectly self-sufficient in heaven before He decided to make human beings in His image.

Then when He had made us and we decided we didn't need Him, He could have either forgotten us and let us destroy ourselves; or He could have just wiped us out and begun again.

He did neither of these things! Instead He reached out to us through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our decision to live outside of His boundaries for us drove a wedge between Him and us, but even so He didn't withdraw from us and treat us like aliens. He just kept reaching out to us in love - even though so many humans just throw His love back in His face!

That's perfection!
That's how we are to be also.

Of course this does not mean that we act foolishly towards others and lay ourselves open to being taken advantage of in dangerous situations. But it does mean that we can take the same risk God takes and show others His love, on His behalf.

That way, we begin to enter into the perfect maturity of our heavenly Father.

Prayer:
Father, I am not at all perfect like You are.
But since I have decided to reflect Your glory, teach me Your wisdom in dealing with those I come in contact with daily, whether they fit into my little group or not.
Help me to begin to be perfect like You are,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.

See you tomorrow, God willing,
when you'll find a new thought here to challenge you!
Meanwhile, have a great day walking with the Lord!