Honoring Free Will With Love (Daily Devotional)

Shalom and thank you that you could join us here as we look into God’s word. Through this week, we have been looking at the remarkable gift of free will. In our devotion today, we are going to be looking at another aspect of free will which is to honor free will with love. As believers in Christ, we are called to embrace an attitude of respect and reverence towards the free will of those around us. People around us also use and ensure that they make those decisions as a result of their free will. As a believer, we need to recognize that each person is endowed with the gift of choice and free will by God just the way, you and I have the same gift. Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 and 4 reads, ‘Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.’ This verse speaks beautifully of this principle and it urges us to set aside selfish ambition and pride and instead to value others more than ourselves, above ourselves. This verse is a radical call to humility. It also challenges us to prioritize the wellbeing and free will of our neighbors or of other people even when it may conflict with our own desires or preferences. So, honoring the free will of others sometimes is not really easy. It requires us to give up control, it may require us to lay down our own personal agendas and to have an open heart, a heart of openness and acceptance. This means recognizing that every person’s journey is very unique and they have the right to make their choices even if we disagree with them. But in this act of humility and love, we reflect the heart and the character of God because God Himself honors our freewill, allowing us the freedom to choose whether to follow Him or to go our own way. Yet, even when we are wayward, He continues to pursue us with that relentless love, still respecting our autonomy and gently inviting us into a relationship with Him. So, in our interactions with others, let’s look and heed at the words of Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. Let’s cultivate that spirit of humility and empathy, valuing the free will of others as a gift that has been entrusted to them by God. Let us seek to understand, seek to empathize, to extend grace, to recognize that true love honors the autonomy and the uniqueness and the dignity of every individual. When we do this, we not only reflect the character of our Heavenly Father but also participate in the redemptive work in this world. For it is only through love, true humility and respect that other hearts that are hardened will be softened, that walls will be broken down, that lives will be transformed and, in this way, we can show out the transformative power of God’s love. Let’s pray together, Heavenly Father, give us the grace to really accept and be willing to allow others to execute their own free will. Help us to be patient with others as you are patient with us, but continue to love and bring them to a place of grace. We pray that you will help us to show mercy to those who may be difficult. Thank you for hearing our prayer, in Jesus’s name, Amen.

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Daily devotions to strengthen your faith each day. Daily Devotional for Spirit filled living. Each daily devotion is about five minutes in duration. These daily devotionals are centered around a weekly theme. So there are seven daily devotions that focus on the theme and bring you insight, understanding and revelation from the Bible. Each week’s theme is listed as a series. So you can listen to the current week’s devotions or go to any previous theme/series that speaks to your present need (https://apcwo.org/resources/daily-devotions ). Also available free sermons (https://apcwo.org/sermons), and free Christian books (https://apcwo.org/books) to nourish and strengthen your faith.