How to Show Love to a Demanding or Selfish Person

Current Teaching Series The Seven Greatest Words of Love

How to Show Love to a Demanding or Selfish Person By Rick Warren — Mar 15, 2017 “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT, second edition). Love can be absolutely exhausting. Don’t let anyone fool you. The kind of love that really makes a difference in this world will zap everything out of you. Sometimes you just don’t feel like you have any more love to give. Maybe you’re in a people-intensive job, such as teacher, salesman, or waitress, and you come home and think, “I just can’t face another need, another problem, or another heartache.” So you just shut down. Or you need to show love to a particular person who is demanding, selfish, and never returns your love. And you just think to yourself, “I’m done. No more.” While that’s perfectly natural and perfectly human, it’s not the standard of love God calls us to in the Bible. The Bible says, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT, second edition). Love never gives up. How can you have that kind of persistent love for another person? You get refueled. When my kids were young, I remember taking the family to a nearby air show. It was so impressive to see how they would hook up a tanker to a jet in flight to refuel. I’ll never forget that. But, can you imagine someone flying a jet saying, “I don't need to refuel!” The jet would crash and burn. In a long distance flight, a jet has to refuel. To give the kind of persistent love that God wants you to give, you have to refuel your love tank. Look around at society, and you’ll see it’s littered with debris from relationships that have crashed and burned because people didn't refuel their love. How do you refuel your love tank? You start by letting God love you. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV). When you’re worn out, tired, and can’t imagine showing love to anyone else, remember that God loved you so much that he sent his Son to die for you. Now that’s real fuel. That’s what keeps you going when you want to quit. Talk It Over What do you need to do this week so you can refuel and love others well? What are the characteristics of God’s love that you can exemplify? Who have you lost faith in or given up on? How can you show love to that person today? PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>

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Series Summary Message 1: ​The Word of Forgiveness Message 2: The Word of ​Assurance Message 3: The Word of Love Message 4: The Word of Substitution Message 5: The Word of Humanity Message 6: The Word of Victory Message 7: The Word of ​Trust PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at pastorrick.com. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe