Most Important Job

Devotionals — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 08:06:20 +0000

My seven year old grandson asked me, “Papa, what is your most important job?” Well, I thought that’s easy, “It’s being your Papa!”

His response was so simple and yet profound. He said with a bit of, you should really know this answer, in his voice… “No, Papa it’s to love everyone.” His answer has stuck with me. For some reason it has etched itself in my mind. Over and over I think… My most important job is to love everyone. Everyone includes even those people who I really do not want to love.

God agrees with my grandson! I know, maybe it’s the other way around. The Apostle John said, “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” 1 John 3:11 (NIV) It’s clear that from the beginning, God’s most important job has not changed.

God also makes it clear that our ability to love is sourced in him. God is the source of love. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 (NIV) Experiencing his love and forgiveness on a personal level makes us able to love and forgive ourselves and others. Because God is perfect in his love he can give us the ability to love beyond our human limitation, to love with his kind of love, a perfect, selfless and unconditional love.

By Mike Woodard
used by permission

February 14th is Valentine’s Day. We often think about romantic love but how about making the effort to expand the circle, fulfill your most important job… love everyone. The beginning might be to experience God’s love and forgiveness personally. This prayer might help you express your desire…

God I want to personally experience your love and forgiveness. I know I have lived independently of you. I want to invite you to come into my life to be the one who guides me and gives me eternal life. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Thank you that I can trust you to direct me and to give me the strength to be the kind of person you want me to be. Amen

If you prayed this to express your desire to God, he has heard you. You can be confident that he has responded to your faith and you can be confident that:

1.       God’s Spirit now lives inside you                 Revelations 3:20
2.       Your sins are forgiven                                   Colossians 1:13-14
3.       You are a child of God                                   John 1:12
4.       You received eternal life                              I John 5:11-13
5.       You will begin to experience God’s love and forgiveness in your life and relationshi

FURTHER READING

Love for a Lifetime by Karen Woodard

I Corinthians 13 ~ The Way of Love

Why is my Marriage in a State of Conflict?

Romance – Keeping it Alive

The post Most Important Job appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Falling in Love with Jesus

Devotionals — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 08:03:23 +0000

What do you really want?

I pray that my answer to that question would always be “more of Jesus.”

But we are often lured away from our first and true passion by other loves. When is the last time you let Jesus invite you to want more of Him? Picture encountering Jesus face-to-face. Imagine that He Himself asks you these two questions:

“Who is it that you are seeking? Have I been among you so long and you don’t know Me?” (John 20:15b, 14:9).

Who are you seeking today?

Do you want Jesus so passionately that you can’t imagine spending a day without him? Do you know him so intimately that you come together with him in love, new life is conceived, and the fruit of love is coming forth?

The following guide is a call to the heart of God. Give yourself the gift of time. Slip away with the Lover of your soul for an hour, an afternoon, or a day and soak in this.

Get still. Sit before Him to communicate with Him. Read Psalm 46:10; 2 Samuel 7:18; Revelations 3:20; Habakkuk. 2:20. Write your response to Him.
Draw near His heart. Read James 4:8; Psalm 42:1-2; Isaiah 55:1-3,6; Psalm 65:4, 73:28, 84:1-4,10. Write your response to Him.
Seek His face. Read Matthew 7:7-8, Psalm 27:4,8; Psalm 63:1-8; Hebrews 11:6; Jeremiah 29:11-14. Write your response to Him.
Spend time in His presence. Read Exodus 33:14-15; Psalm 16:11, 89:1; Isaiah 29:13, 63:9; Lamentations 2:19; Jude 24-25. Write your response to Him.
Spend time knowing Him better. You cannot love someone you do not know. Let Him teach you who He is through His names and attributes. Each one reveals something about Him. Encounter Him in His Word. Read Matthew 11:29; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Philippians 3:8,10. Tell Jesus that knowing Him is the most important thing in all the world to you. Write your response of adoration or sing Him a song.
Tell Him all those things that you are willing to count as nothing compared with knowing Him and seeing His glory (Philippians 3:7-8): your ministry, your reputation, your personal strengths, your intellect, your pride, your self-sufficiency, your will, your ambition, your relationships, your job, your sins, your failures, etc. Say, “I give it all. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing
(1 Chronicles 21:23; 2 Samuel 24:24).” Give all that you know, and then open yourself up for God to show you new “all’s.” Write your response of surrender and commitment.
Be overwhelmed with the awesome Person speaking to you. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).”

Receive His unfailing love. Let the Father hug you and pour His love into your heart by His Spirit.

By Sylvia Gunter
Used by Permission

Further Reading

• Love for a Lifetime by Karen Woodard

• Valentine’s Day or Any Day – by Mike Woodard

• Salvation Explained

Follow Us On: Facebook • Twitter • Instagram • Pinterest

The post Falling in Love with Jesus appeared first on Thoughts About God.

valentines day | Thoughts About God

Most Important Job

Falling in Love with Jesus