Day Twenty-five:
If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:12
It’s time for a little self-examination. You’ve come a long way, and the end of the 30 days is in sight. What changes have you seen in your wife? What changes have you seen in yourself? Is your home a little quieter and peace more abundant? Do your wife and children seem more at ease and loving?
Today, think of how you can show love to your wife through the pattern of love in I Corinthians 13:1-8a. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
Choose one characteristic that you want to make abundant in your wife’s life today and ask God to help you follow through.
Read the I Corinthians passage again. Underline those characteristics of love that you do pretty well and circle those that need some work. Don’t be too hard on yourself; none of us will get a perfect score.
This exercise is not meant to point out where you’ve failed or need more work, but to point out where you have succeeded and how your demonstration of love to your wife has changed over the past 24 days.
There is still room for improvement, there always is, but you are well on your way to living out I Corinthians 13 every day.
* Written and distributed by Claudia J. Pate, www.theanniversaryshop.wordpress.com