Gary Chapman - The Love as a Way of Life Devotional: A Ninety-Day Adventure That Makes Love a Daily Habit

T HE L OVE AS A W AY OF L IFE D EVOTIONAL
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the stories and anecdotes in this book. In some instances, names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the person or persons involved.

eISBN: 978-0-307-76885-8

Copyright 2008 by Gary Chapman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chapman, Gary D., 1938
The love as a way of life devotional: a 90-day adventure that makes love a daily habit / Gary Chapman and Elisa Stanford.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. LoveReligious aspectsChristianityPrayers and devotions. 2. Devotional calendars. I. Stanford, Elisa. II. Title.
BV4639.C423 2008
241.4dc22

2008019050

v3.1_r2

Dedicated to Shelley Chapman McGuirt, M.D.

I am deeply indebted to my family of origin: Sam, Grace, and Sandra. My dad, mom, and sister gave me my first taste of love. Only Mom remains. At age ninety-seven she tells me, I wont be here much longer and thats all right. Having spent my life working with dysfunctional families, I am aware of how fortunate I am to have been reared in a loving family.

I also have learned much about love from my wife, Karolyn, who for more than forty years has been my chief encourager. Daughter Shelley and son Derek have been loved from birth and now reciprocate love to us and to everyone they encounter. This book is dedicated to Shelley. She embodies love as well as anyone I have ever known. I am grateful to be her father.

I have enjoyed working with Elisa Stanford on this project. She has scouted out many of the stories that appear on these pages. Her diligence has kept us on track to complete the book in a timely fashion. Senior editor Ron Lee and production editor Pamela Shoup of the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group have also been of immense help. It has been a pleasure to work with them.

C hrist longs for his followers to love as he loves. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34). Christ not only raises the standard of love, but he also offers himself as the model. When we love as Christ loved, we are showing others the love of God.

In the book Love as a Way of Life, I named the seven distinguishing characteristics of a loving person: kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity, and honesty. I believe that when we reflect these traits in daily life with neighbors, family members, co-workers, and even strangers, we are reflecting the love of Christ.

While Love as a Way of Life is intended to challenge you to action, this devotional book is designed to speak to your heart so that you might know more of the love of God in your own life as you learn to love others more. This book is divided into short readings that follow the order of the character traits of a loving person in Love as a Way of Life, including as well three introductory readings and three concluding readings. In light of the variety of stories, verses, and suggestions, the two books complement each other.

All the devotional readings are intended for personal quiet times with God, whether thats first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or during a break in the middle of the day. My hope is that my words will be springboards for prayer in your life. With that in mind, after each devotional I include a brief prayer, thought, or idea related to strengthening your relationship with God and prompting a life of love.

God wants his followers to be channels of his love. May this small book draw you closer to God so that you might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19) and discover the joy of seeing Christs love flow from you to others every day.

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

R OMANS 8:3839

W hen my grandchildren were toddlers, I read many books to them about farms, the alphabet, and how to have good manners. A more subtle theme among childrens picture books is unconditional love. Mama, do you love me? a child asks her mother. How much do you love me? a bunny asks his father. With a variety of settings and characters, countless books represent children asking, What if I ran away? What if I hurt you? What if I traveled to the moon or broke a vase or hit my sister? Would you still love me?

Yes, the parent says. I will love you no matter what. I will always love you.

These cozy bedtime stories reflect a universal need that we never outgrow: the need to know that someone, somewhere, loves us without restraint or condition. What a gift we give each other when we communicate that kind of love every day. We might not say it with words. In fact, we might choose to love by not speaking but by being patient in the face of frustration, kind when someone is rude to us, or humble when it would be easier to talk about our accomplishments. But every time we are purposeful about making love a way of life, we are affirming what we each need to hearand what God speaks to us every day: You are loved. No matter what. Forever and always.

How would truly believing God loves youno matter whatchange your thoughts and actions in the next twenty-four hours?

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 C ORINTHIANS 13:13, MSG

M ary Jo is easy to find, seven-year-old Richard tells a visitor to the shelter. Look for someone kind and someone who is always smiling. She prays a lot too. She might be praying or singing or helping people.