Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:11

Now, I don’t know about you, but loving some folks is easier than loving others. Some people are just plain lovable—kind, generous, the type who brings you banana pudding just because they were thinking about you. But then there are those who make you wonder if they were put on this earth just to test your patience.

But see, John wasn’t giving us a suggestion here. He wasn’t saying, “Love the ones that are easy and tolerate the rest.” No, he said we ought to love one another. Why? Because God loved us first. And if God, in all His perfection, can love us despite our messes, our stubbornness, and our bad attitudes, then surely we can extend that same love to the ones who rub us the wrong way.

Loving one another isn’t always about warm fuzzies. Sometimes it’s about grace, about choosing kindness when someone deserves a sharp word, about showing up even when we’d rather walk away. Love isn’t just a feeling; it’s an action, a decision, a way of life.

So today, take a deep breath, ask God to help you, and go love somebody—even if they don’t deserve it. Because, truth be told, neither did we. And yet, God loved us anyway.

Psalm 103:2 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I can be downright forgetful. I’ll walk into a room and forget why I’m there. I’ll set my glasses down and spend half the day looking for them—only to find them on my head. But the one thing we can’t afford to forget is just how good God has been to us.

Think about it. Has God ever provided for you when you didn’t know how you’d make it? Has He ever put the right person in your path at the right time? Has He ever pulled you out of a mess you made for yourself? If you’re breathing, then the answer is yes. And yet, we get caught up in life’s troubles and act like we don’t have a reason to praise Him.

David is telling us here—don’t be like that. Don’t let the worries of today make you forget the blessings of yesterday. Count them, name them, celebrate them. Because when you remember what God has done, you’ll trust Him for what He’s about to do. So today, let’s not waste time griping about what’s wrong. Let’s bless the Lord and remember all the ways He’s made it right.

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Corinthians 5:21

Now isn’t that just like God? Taking something broken and making it whole. Taking something dirty and making it clean. You and I, we were a mess—a walking, talking pile of mistakes. But God, in His crazy, relentless love, sent Jesus to trade places with us. He took on our sin, our shame, our punishment. And in return? We got His righteousness.

Think about that. Jesus became what He never was, so you could become what you could never be on your own. That’s grace. That’s mercy. That’s love beyond reason.

 So, walk in it. Quit carrying around what’s already been paid for. You’re not defined by your sin—you’re defined by His sacrifice. You are the righteousness of God. Now, go live like it.