Read:   I John 4:7-12

Think:  I really like potatoes.  If a potato is a vegetable, then it is my favorite vegetable.  Last year, I tried growing potatoes for the first time, and was rewarded with some really delicious spuds.  This season, I’ve planted three varieties, and expect a much larger harvest, assuming we get bit more sun.  When it comes to potatoes, I’ve gone from being strictly a consumer to also being a producer.

Something similar should be happening in our lives spiritually as we mature in our Christian faith.  Early on, we live as consumers of God’s love.  We receive forgiveness and acceptance directly from God.  While our fellow Christians won’t ever be able to extend the perfect love God does, we should be able to find a healthy measure of love from within the Church, too.  It is right that we take in this love from God and others to nurture us as we grow in Christ.

But there comes a time when we need to move beyond just taking it in and start giving it out, too.  We need to become spiritual producers, not just spiritual consumers.  Pastor Ben spoke of a specific aspect of this on Sunday.  Describing how God meets our need for approval through grace, he talked about the need to extend ‘grace for others’.  Just as we need healthy approval from others, it is important that we offer appropriate approval and encouragement for others. 

As John wrote in our Bible passage for today.  “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:11).  Extending gracious approval is part of loving one another.  We’ll never stop being consumers of God’s love, but let’s be sure that love is also being produced in our lives.

Do:  Extend grace to someone today by giving a word of approval and encouragement. 

Pray:  Lord, I’m grateful for the forgiveness, acceptance, and approval you’ve given to me, and for the way others have extended your love to me.  I want to do more.  Please use me to give encouragement and approval to others.  Amen.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.