Some days, love feels like butterflies. Other days, it feels like a sacrifice. If you think godly love is just about how you feel, you’ll walk away the moment the feelings fade.
The truth is, love that lasts is not always powered by emotion; it’s powered by intention.
Feelings come and go. They rise and fall with mood, stress, seasons, and even hormones. But real love, the kind God talks about, is deeper than that. It shows up when it’s hard. It stays when it’s uncomfortable. It chooses even when it doesn’t feel like it.
1 Corinthians 13 doesn’t say love is a feeling. It says love is patient, kind, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. Those aren’t emotions. They’re decisions. Daily decisions.
You won’t always “feel” in love, and that’s okay. What matters is what you do in those moments. Do you still choose to honor? To forgive? To pray for them? To show up? That’s godly love.
You see, culture tells us to follow our hearts. But God says to guard it (Proverbs 4:23). Feelings are unstable in everything, especially in relationships.
Even Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross. He prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39), but love made Him stay. Love made Him choose obedience. That’s what godly love looks like. It’s a decision to honor God even when it’s uncomfortable.
Commitment is the only virtue that will take you further than chemistry, so you won’t always wake up with butterflies. I encourage you to choose love, not just when it feels good, but when it reflects Christ.
Most of the time, our immediate actions have futuristic consequences, which is why we have to be careful about what we do or what we don’t do. Our choices – whether good or bad, transcend us.
David, for example, chose to go for another man’s wife after murdering him. One would think God’s silence on the matter for over a year meant He approved David’s actions. Well, his choices threw his family into problems as the sword never departed from his house.
What about Abraham, the father of faith? He wanted a permanent solution to his issue of childlessness as the supposed promise of God was taking too long to manifest. Of course, we know he eventually had to send Ishmael away.
I could also talk about Samson, Joseph, Gehazi, Saul, and a host of others whose choices outlived them.
What is my point this morning? It doesn’t end with you. That 5 minutes of pleasure doesn’t end there. That subtle text doesn’t end there. Yes, it is taking longer than you thought but compromising has never solved any problem beforehand. Ask everyone who has compromised in one way or another. It never ended there. More often than not, the moment you are done compromising, then the issues begin.
Jos 24:15 [NKJV] And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Before you take that decision, think about your children. Think about your assignment. Think about your purpose. Jesus could have easily turned the stones into bread. He not only had the power, he was hungry, but he knew better. He knew his work on earth was more than bread.
Like we say in Nigeria; the food you do not have plans to put in your mouth, do not bring it close to your nose.
Friends are powerful. They can make or Mar. In history, friends have been known to be foes in disguise, while perceived foes have turned out to be great friends.
Friends are a great influence, and they will influence for good or for worse. You may not be able to choose the circumstances of your birth and the milieu of your family, but you can choose who you want as friends and discard those who are parasites.
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. -2Samuel 13:3
Amnon died a premature death. Ever before his light could shine, the flames were extinguished in a fit of the revengeful act. He lost the opportunity to bloom and blossom, his destiny was cut short, and his potential never saw the light of day.
He was a prince, a king’s son, but his royal blood was wasted, and his life terminated in the midst of days.
Amnon wouldn’t have died, if he has not been advised by a ‘friend’ Years before, he had heeded a counsel from a FRIEND whose counsel eventually canceled his destiny.
Jonadab was his friend, but his friend became the source of his nemesis. He had hopelessly fallen in love with his half-sister to the point of sickness. Jonadab advised him on how to get his sister’s attention. Singles, Be Careful How You Choose Your Friends
He followed his friend’s advice, feigned sickness, and eventually raped Tamar, his half-sister. Absalom who is also Tamar’s brother made sure he revenged. He went too far.
Two years down the line when Amnon thought all was gone and forgotten, Absalom ensured his murder. He murdered him. Singles, Be Careful How You Choose Your Friends
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have the strength to disconnect from bad influences. I will no longer be subject to weak and beggarly elements. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have God’s Spirit and He helps me to choose my friends. I am not naïve, I am decisive in God.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY God, deliver me from the snares and traps of wrong association. Open the eyes of my understanding, O Lord, and flood my heart with your light. I will choose rightly, I will not marry wrong.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY There are friends who may be a man’s destruction, but there is a lover who keeps nearer than a brother. – Proverbs 18:24
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Make a list of your friends. The good and the bad. Keep the good and disconnect from the bad ones. It is your choice.
You have to be excited about your life, yes, your own life. You have been excited about other people’s lives, their achievements, their talents, their beauty, their intelligence and so on. It’s time you begin to get excited at God’s wonder called YOU.
Look into the mirror, and celebrate the lady or guy you see at the other side. Most times, we pretend to be too busy not to give a few second’s glance to appreciate ourselves.
Behind that busyness is an avoidance to notice how special and unique you are.
Life is in phases and the last minute that just went by now can never be re -lived again. It is gone forever. Whatever phase you are in, it is worth celebrating. Learn to capture moments, pause and celebrate the major character called you.
You are the major character that the whole of heavens is intently looking at. Your best days are not behind you, your best moment is here and here now. Tomorrow is a promissory note, but today is a gift.
Celebrate yourself because you made it through the night season and you are here now. Even if you are not sure how tomorrow will look like, you don’t have to forfeit the today you can see now.
I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.
Psa 139:14 (AMP)
Get excited about yourself and build a positive self-esteem and a positive atmosphere around you. Others will perceive this and it will make you attractive to them. When you get excited about your life, you are not living at the mercy of others. What people say or think about you does not really matter.
Some people are approval addicts. They go about seeking people’s approval. People that look forward to other people’s approval are never excited. They are too busy, pre-occupied with who is appreciating them. They are always looking for company.
Learn to be your best company. Some people can’t dance all by themselves in their own company. Some can’t laugh or give a little dance step all by themselves.
Ask yourself, can you recognize yourself if you were in another body? Some people don’t know half about the person under their skin.
You are great and unique. You are beautiful. You are talented. You are smart. You can make the right choices. You are intelligent. You are wise.
One of the reasons celebrating yourself is also good is that it keeps you in check. You cannot be smoking, drinking, gambling, having multiple sexual partners and be celebrating yourself at the same time. They don’t go together. When you get excited about your life, it helps you make better choices and vice versa.
Five ways to get excited about your life.
1. Be a grateful person A thankful heart is an excited heart.
2. Be real. Don’t live a fake life Seek help where necessary. Don’t fool yourself covering up or hiding some habitual sins. A double life cannot be an excited life. Seek counsel.
3. Be ready to learn every day Learn how to live life. There is a better way you don’t know. Learning makes life better.Learn more to have and be able to make better choices.
4. Be excited about knowing God Until you are excited about God and excited about knowing Him, you cannot be excited about your life. God is the author of your life, a discovery of Him is a discovery of your life.
5. Be ready to make better choices daily Your choices will make you. Right from the choice of thoughts you permit in your mind, to your words, your actions, your habits and of cause, your character. You can only be excited about your life when you have handled well all these other choices.
Never beat yourself down even when you fall or make a mistake. Be ready to go over the process again and you will see yourself getting excited about your life once again.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am wonderfully made
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, give me inner strength
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Psa 139:14 (MSG) I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation!
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Pray about God’s plan for your life
