Leaving Room

Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. EPHESIANS 4:2 TLB 

Love as the driving force in everything we do develops patience in us and grows the capacity of our grace to forgive. Love encourages us to increase the “allowance” we afford the people in our lives. When we make allowances for each other’s faults, we leave ample room for love to expand. We’re fallible humans in a broken world serving an infallible God who has infinite compassion. Only because of His unwavering love are we able to operate in love at all times. It takes a lot of thought-capturing, deep-breath-taking, and pause-before-responding on our part, but that’s how we learn to allow the Holy Spirit to prevail. Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26 NKJV). 

“What would Jesus do?” should be more than a catchy slogan in our lives—it should be a question we’re able to answer by the power of the Holy Spirit. At all times, in every situation, and with every person, God has given us the power to let love be in control. What an amazing gift for which we can be continually grateful! 

Give me a quiet mind and a sensitive heart, Lord, so that Your lead is all that I listen to.  

This is an excerpt from In This Together: 90 Devotions on the Book of Ephesians – a devotional now available for pre-order on DaySpring.com. Shop all books, journals, and devotions from DaySpring here.