In the Spirit of Love...

From our fantastic prayer team for guidance on how to pray this week...

Luke 6:27- 36
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
   32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

  In the spirit of love and Valentine’s Day, I thought that a good topic to pray about this week would be for those whom we find it hardest to love. I’m sure most of us strive to be friendly and nice to most people we come in contact with each week. But for most of us, there are those few particular people that may make “loving” them more difficult. Let’s take this week to reflect on our friends, families, and all of those that we come in contact with. Let’s try to show God’s love to everyone and see what blessing come from this experience.
      This past week at Seacoast, Pastor Greg preached on “Becoming a Star”. He spoke about how to stand out in a crowd. The focus of his message was to stay positive, learn to say thanks, and to own up to our own sin. Doing all of these things will help us stand apart from the secular world we live in. By looking into our own hearts and avoiding the temptation to complain or gripe, we will help others around us see the joy of God.
      With that said, I think that if we can love more and shine brighter for God this week, we will all be blessed. We can show people around us that we are different and we have a reason to shine!