Day 307: Love Never Fails

1 Peter 3; Jeremiah 35-36; Psalm 136

As followers of The Lord Jesus, Peter gives us some instructions. As a wife, I am to put my husband first. Husbands are to honor their wives. We are to treat everyone with kindness, even those that insult us. And we need to be ready to give an answer about our hope and faith that is kind and respectful. We do this knowing that we may suffer or be persecuted anyway. Reading through some of these New Testament letters and all their commentary on living right and at peace and facing suffering through it all, it makes me realize that I had missed the message. We are to live sacrificially, not for ourselves, but for others, all for the sake of Jesus' message. I don't face much suffering--am I being bold enough in sharing the gospel? Am I treating everyone, even those that are tough to love, with unconditional love?

God talks through Jeremiah to the people about obedience. He points out that the clan of Rechabites had obeyed their ancestor for generations, never disobeying his command. But the Israelites and people of Judah had disobeyed God, the Living, Almighty God, over and over again. It's interesting because people do that even today. It doesn't seem to matter who the person is, but people will listen to them, their mottoes, their advice, and yet they don't pay any attention to the word of God. Obeying The Lord leads to life, wisdom, peace, and joy. What can human advice really do for us except give us temporary relief or success?

Over and over this psalm says "God's love never fails." The constant repetition of this scripture reminds me that through everything, The Lord's love is constant. Just because we face difficult times doesn't mean he has removed his love from us. Just because we don't hear from him like we want to doesn't mean he doesn't love us anymore. His love is constant, unending, eternal. That is awesome.