"I Choose You"

I'm beginning Danny Silk's YouVersion devotional "Keep Your Love On."
There is a lesson followed by questions to think about.


Day 1:

Love means choosing to love another person even when they aren't choosing. Love is not dependent on what is received. Christ chose to love us even when we were not choosing Him. God's choice was not dependent on the choices of man.

Question:
Does someone need to "choose you" first for you to feel connected to him/her?

My response:
Yes. If someone does not choose me, I think that person does not value me and does not want a relationship with me. I do not feel connected with someone who is not pursuing connection with me. I do not want to pursue connection with someone who doesn't want me.

Question:
What motivation will you have to "choose" others when they may not return "liking for liking?"

My Response:
I can be motivated to choose to love others when I believe that they need my love. When I believe that my love could make a difference in their lives. When I feel like being a minister of Christ's love. When I remember that my job is to love.

I choose to pursue connection with people who may not like me in return if the person is valuable to me. Or if I will be having continuous interactions with that person and think that restoration would be most profitable for future interactions.

I'd rather avoid conflict and people who have problems with me, or who are difficult.

Verse: John 15:16 "You did not choose me, But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."

I was chosen to bear fruit. I was chosen to love. Love remains.

Prayer:
God I pray that you increase my love for all people. I pray that I will give to others even when it's not comfortable. Let me pursue you above all else, and from my love for you, let me love other. 

I am a Creation of God

I've been faced with a big fear lately. One of my biggest fears is inability. I'm afraid that I'm unable to do the right thing. I've been afraid that I'm too selfish too love. I'm afraid of doing hard things. I'm afraid of confrontation or other difficult conversations. Sometimes I feel like a special kind of loser. It seems like I keep messing things up and I can't get it right. God created me and says I am more than a conqueror. God doesn't create defects. I am not too messed up for God to use.

Prayer: God, Help me to remember that you are the source of my strength and the source of my success. Please help me stop being so introspective. Help me instead to always remember your power and your strength. Help me remember that you are bigger than my problems. 

Declaration: I can never mess up too big. I am not too much of anything to be used for God's purposes.

All Along- Remedy Drive

I've been confused and searching. I've felt empty and alone. I've tried to find love and approval. I've worked hard. But none of it matters without God in my life.