Only I Can

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

—Romans 12:10 (NLT)

Love. Be devoted. Have compassion. Honor the need of someone else as greater than your own. I read today’s verse from Bible Gateway, and immediately asked myself if God sees this in me. Even if I may hear how kind I am from other people, I always need to ask myself if it is true. The Holy Spirit wishes me to understand the reason I help others. “Love each other with genuine affection,” the New Living Testament reads, “and take delight in honoring each other.” He wants to make sure that the reason is from genuine love with no agenda behind the action. If I have no agenda, I will find great joy and delight in what I am able to share.

It is my heart on the altar. Not anyone else’s. “Create in me a pure heart, O God,” the psalmist cried, “and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NIV). Only I can examine the real motive of my own heart, and allow the Lord to create a steadfast one within me. Only I can be renewed! Only I can offer a heart without motive—one that is holy and pleasing to God. That is my true worship—my heart on the altar—my life not about me, but all about Him.

© 2018 Lynn Lacher

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