{"id":4511,"date":"2021-09-25T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-25T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=4511"},"modified":"2021-09-09T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T18:04:36","slug":"why-increasing-your-love-will-make-you-stronger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/09\/25\/why-increasing-your-love-will-make-you-stronger\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Increasing Your Love Will Make You Stronger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-1024x977.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4512\" width=\"336\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-1024x977.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-768x733.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-1536x1466.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.25-2048x1955.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Daily Reading:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm%2014&amp;version=GW\">Psalms 14 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Jeremiah%205-6&amp;version=NIV\">Jeremiah 5-6 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1%20Thessalonians%203&amp;version=GW\">1 Thessalonians 3 GW<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Love never fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul is praying for the Thessalonians that their love will increase.&nbsp; He knows, love is the answer.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/christchurchepiscopal.org\/i-am-as-i-love\/\">John Albrecht<\/a> gets credit for the shortest sermon preached.&nbsp; An Episcopal priest, he stood up, looked around and said \u201cLove.\u201d&nbsp; Then he sat down, message over.&nbsp; Love is the answer.&nbsp; We need to pray for all of us to become better lovers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cLove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. <\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. <\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. <\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013%3A4-7&amp;version=NIV\"><em>1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tender strength comes to those who love well.&nbsp; Instead of taking offense, loving people see the hurt behind the actions. Actively loving others, putting their needs before yours creates bonds that are hard to break.&nbsp; When God is the motivator for your actions, He becomes the third cord in all you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Strengthen the muscle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For weight lifters to achieve the finely chiseled look they crave, they must exercise.&nbsp; Sitting around eating Doritos doesn\u2019t give you six-pack abs.&nbsp; Crunching the stomach instead of chips gets the job done.&nbsp; Day after day of doing sit-ups will develop the core.&nbsp; Our love muscle needs strengthened in the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every time you love instead of hate, you\u2019re increasing the muscle.&nbsp; Every person you interact with today is someone you can practice loving.&nbsp; Choosing patience over irritation requires self-control over our actions as well as our thoughts.&nbsp; Not boasting about self, instead encouraging others is always the right choice.&nbsp; The natural resistance we feel to God\u2019s instructions on loving is what makes us stronger.&nbsp; Just as lifting weights increases the size of your physical muscles, loving increases your love muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pray for God to increase your love.&nbsp; Ask Him to do the same for others.&nbsp; Strengthen your muscle with each person you meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Three-Word-Prayers-Everyday-Living-ebook\/dp\/B09JT3B6CW\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18UKNZFIIDIEA&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=three+word+prayers&amp;qid=1635775169&amp;sprefix=three+word+prayers%2Caps%2C69&amp;sr=8-2\">Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Lord, thank You for defining love for us.&nbsp; Forgive us for not loving better when we had the chance.&nbsp; Help us today strengthen our muscles.&nbsp; Let us love everyone we interact with today as You have us do.&nbsp; Give us what we need to become better lovers.&nbsp; IJNIP.&nbsp; Amen<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Question for reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Who can you love for Jesus today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 minute read. Daily Reading: Psalms 14 GW; Jeremiah 5-6 GW; 1 Thessalonians 3 GW Love never fails. Paul is praying for the Thessalonians that their love will increase.&nbsp; He knows, love is the answer.&nbsp; John Albrecht gets credit for the shortest sermon preached.&nbsp; An Episcopal priest, he stood up, looked around and said \u201cLove.\u201d&nbsp;&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/09\/25\/why-increasing-your-love-will-make-you-stronger\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why Increasing Your Love Will Make You Stronger<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4511"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4516,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4511\/revisions\/4516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}