WHEN PEOPLE TURN AGAINST YOU

One of the hardest things in life is watching someone who once stood beside you suddenly turn against you. Sometimes it happens without warning. Someone you trusted begins believing things about you that are not true. Someone who once defended you now criticizes you. Someone who knew your heart now questions your motives. It hurts because betrayal does not usually come from strangers. It comes from people who once mattered to you.

David knew what it was like to have people turn against him. He had enemies who wanted him dead, but some of his deepest pain came from those who had once been close to him. He wrote, “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it” (Psalm 55:12). There is a particular pain when the person hurting you is someone you once trusted. David understood that pain, but he also understood where to take it. He said, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you” (Psalm 55:22).

Jesus experienced it too. Judas walked with Him, heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles, and shared meals with Him. Yet Judas eventually turned against Him and betrayed Him with a kiss (Matthew 26:47-49). Jesus knew what it was to be loved by some, hated by others, misunderstood by many, and betrayed by someone close. If people turned against Jesus, we should not be shocked when they turn against us.

But here is where we must be careful. Someone else’s betrayal does not give you permission to become bitter. When people turn against you, the temptation is to spend your life trying to make them pay. You want everyone to know what they did. You want to expose them. You want to answer every accusation and defend every part of your character. But sometimes the greatest victory is simply to keep walking with God. “Repay no one evil for evil” (Romans 12:17). “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

You may not be able to control what people believe about you. You cannot control what they say when you are not present. You cannot force someone to remember the good you did for them. You cannot make someone remain loyal. But you can control what happens inside your own heart. Do not let somebody else’s disloyalty make you disloyal. Do not let their hatred make you hateful. Do not let their bitterness make you bitter. Keep your heart tender before God.

Sometimes God allows people to walk away because He knows something you do not know. Not everyone who starts the journey with you is supposed to finish it with you. Some people are only there for a season. Some relationships end because God is protecting you. Some doors close because God has another door to open. Paul experienced people abandoning him, yet he could still say, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me” (2 Timothy 4:17). When people leave, God does not leave.

So if people have turned against you, do not spend your days staring backward. Lift your eyes toward Christ. Keep praying. Keep loving. Keep serving. Keep telling the truth. Keep your conscience clean. Let God handle the people who have chosen to oppose you. You do not have to win every argument. You do not have to answer every accusation. You do not have to chase everyone who walks away.

There will be days when you feel alone, but remember this: you may lose people and still have God. And if you have God, you have not lost everything. David said, “When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me” (Psalm 27:10). People can change. Friends can leave. Circumstances can turn. But Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Let them turn if they choose. You keep walking toward Christ. Let them talk if they must. You keep speaking truth. Let them leave if they will. You keep following Jesus. Your life is not defined by who walked away from you. It is defined by the One who promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

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PRAYER

Lord, when people turn against me, give me grace not to become bitter. Help me forgive those who have hurt me and refuse to repay evil for evil. When I feel rejected, remind me that You have not rejected me. When friends leave, remind me that You remain. Help me keep my heart clean, my conscience clear, and my eyes fixed on Jesus. Give me strength to keep walking when others walk away. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

BDD

WHEN YOUR GOOD IS REPAID WITH EVIL

One of the hardest lessons you will ever learn is that doing good does not guarantee that people will do good to you in return. You can love someone, help someone, encourage someone, pray for someone, stand beside someone, and still find yourself being hurt by that same person.

Sometimes the very people you helped will be the ones who later turn against you. That hurts deeply because we naturally expect kindness to produce kindness. But Jesus never promised that. In fact, He warned us that following Him would sometimes mean doing good while receiving evil in return.

David knew this pain. He asked, “They reward me evil for good, To the sorrow of my soul” (Psalm 35:12). Imagine doing something good for someone and receiving trouble in return. Yet David did not allow their actions to determine his character. He continued to trust God. That is an important lesson for us. Someone else’s wickedness must not become an excuse for our disobedience.

Jesus gave us an even greater example. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, comforted the brokenhearted, forgave sinners, and showed mercy to people who had nothing to offer Him. Yet many of those same people eventually cried out for His crucifixion. He was mocked, beaten, falsely accused, and nailed to a cross. And while He was suffering, He prayed, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). The goodness of Christ was repaid with evil, but evil did not change the goodness of Christ.

That is where we must be careful. When someone hurts you after you have done good to them, bitterness will tell you to stop caring about people. It will tell you that nobody deserves your kindness anymore. It will tell you to build walls around your heart and never trust again. But that is not the way of Christ. Paul wrote, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). We are not called to become cold because someone else was cruel.

Doing good is not wasted simply because someone responds badly. God sees what people do not see. Hebrews says, “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love” (Hebrews 6:10). You may never receive an apology. You may never hear “thank you.” You may never see the person admit what they did. But God saw it all. Every sacrifice. Every prayer. Every act of kindness. Every time you chose mercy instead of revenge. He did not miss any of it.

There is also freedom in realizing that you do not have to make people appreciate your goodness. Your goodness is ultimately an offering to God. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you” (Matthew 5:44). Why? Because our behavior is not supposed to be controlled by someone else’s behavior. We do not love because people are always lovable. We love because Christ first loved us (1 John 4:19).

So keep doing good. Keep helping. Keep encouraging. Keep forgiving. Keep praying. But do not put your hope in people’s gratitude. Put your hope in God. People may repay your kindness with rejection, but God will never forget your faithfulness. People may walk away after everything you have done for them, but God will remain beside you.

Never allow someone’s response to your goodness to determine whether you will continue being good. Let your character be controlled by Christ, not by the people around you. If they repay good with evil, leave them in God’s hands. You keep your heart clean. You keep your hands open. You keep doing what is right.

Because in the end, we are not rewarded because everyone appreciated what we did. We are rewarded because God saw what we did.

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PRAYER

Lord, help me continue doing good even when good is repaid with evil. Keep bitterness from taking root in my heart. Help me forgive those who have hurt me and trust You with those who have treated me unfairly. Remind me that You see every act of love, every sacrifice, and every good thing done in Your name. Make me more like Jesus, who loved even those who rejected Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

BDD

LIARS OUT TO GET YOU

So you do your best to walk uprightly and still find yourself the target of people who are determined to destroy your name. They may twist your words, misrepresent your actions, repeat rumors as though they were facts, and search desperately for something they can use against you. Sometimes the truth is not what they are looking for. They are looking for a reason to accuse you. When that happens, remember this: you are not the first person who has been attacked by lies.

Jesus Himself was lied about. They called Him a glutton and a winebibber. They accused Him of being a friend of sinners. They said He cast out demons by the ruler of demons. They questioned His character, His motives, and His authority. They even brought false witnesses against Him at His trial (Matthew 11:19; Matthew 12:24; Matthew 26:59-60). The perfectly innocent Son of God was treated as though He were guilty. If men were willing to lie about Jesus, we should not be surprised when they lie about us.

The devil has always understood the power of accusation. Satan is called “the accuser” because accusation is one of his favorite weapons (Revelation 12:10). A lie does not have to be true to cause damage. It only has to be repeated. A false story can travel farther than the truth because people often enjoy hearing something negative about someone else. “A false witness speaks lies” and “he who sows discord among brethren” is among the things God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). Gossip can destroy friendships, families, churches, reputations, and ministries. Sometimes people do not want justice. They want blood.

But here is the comfort for the child of God: you do not have to fight every battle people try to drag you into. When accusations came against Jesus, He did not answer every charge. He knew the Father saw the truth. Peter wrote that when Christ was reviled, “He did not revile in return,” and when He suffered, “He did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23). There is tremendous strength in refusing to become like the people attacking you. You do not have to lie because someone lied about you. You do not have to become cruel because someone was cruel to you. You do not have to destroy someone because they tried to destroy you.

If someone is determined to misunderstand you, there may be nothing you can say that will satisfy them. They have already chosen their story. Let them have their story while you continue walking in the truth. Your responsibility is not to control what people say about you. Your responsibility is to remain faithful to God. “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5). God knows what happened. God knows what you meant. God knows what was true. And in His time, He knows how to bring hidden things into the light.

Do not allow liars to change your character. Do not allow accusers to steal your peace. Do not allow gossip to make you bitter. Keep your heart clean, keep your hands clean, keep telling the truth, and keep walking with Christ. David said, “Vindicate me, O LORD, For I have walked in my integrity” (Psalm 26:1). There is something powerful about being able to stand before God with a clear conscience even when men have a false story about you.

Remember, the truth does not need a temper tantrum to defend it. Keep doing right. Keep loving people. Keep serving God. Keep your mouth under control. Keep your conscience clear. One day every secret will be revealed, every false accusation will be exposed, and every person will stand before God (Luke 12:2-3; Romans 14:10-12). Until then, let the liars talk if they must. You keep walking.

Because when everybody else has finished talking, God will have the final word.

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PRAYER

Lord, give me the strength to remain faithful when people lie about me, misunderstand me, or deliberately try to harm my reputation. Keep bitterness out of my heart and anger out of my mouth. Help me refuse to retaliate and give me grace to continue doing what is right. You know the truth even when others do not. Help me trust You with my reputation, my future, and my enemies. Let my life speak louder than the lies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

BDD

THE PRESENT TRUTH

“Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth.” (2 Peter 1:12)

There is an hour in which we live, and there is a truth that must be proclaimed in that hour. Peter called it “the present truth.” He was not suggesting that truth changes. God’s truth is eternal. What was true yesterday remains true today and will remain true tomorrow.

Sometimes certain truths need to be brought to the forefront of our minds because of the spiritual condition of the hour in which we live. Peter said, “I will not be negligent to remind you.” Sometimes the greatest need of the church is not to hear something new, but to be reminded of something old.

THE REMINDER OF TRUTH

“I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things.” There is great danger in becoming familiar with truth without remaining faithful to truth. We can hear the same Scriptures so often that we cease to tremble at them. We can know the doctrines of the word while allowing the fire of devotion to grow cold. Israel knew the commandments of God, yet repeatedly wandered from them. The church at Ephesus knew how to identify false teachers, yet Christ told them they had left their first love (Revelation 2:2-4).

We need reminders because we are forgetful people. We forget what God has done. We forget what God has promised. We forget the seriousness of sin. We forget the brevity of life. We forget the certainty of judgment. We forget the glory of heaven. Most of all, we can forget that Jesus Christ must remain the center of everything.

The preacher must therefore keep reminding God’s people. Truth does not become less important because we have heard it before. The old truths are still the good truths. The blood still saves. Grace is still amazing. Repentance is still necessary. Faith is still essential. Holiness still matters. Christ is still Lord. Heaven is still real. Hell is still real. Eternity is still coming.

THE REALITY OF TRUTH

Peter said they were “established in the present truth.” To be established means to be settled, strengthened, and firmly grounded. There is a difference between knowing truth and being established in truth.

A person who is established cannot easily be moved by every new teaching, every popular opinion, or every cultural wind. Paul warned- that believers should no longer be children who are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). The world is constantly changing its message, but the Word of God does not need to change with the world.

We desperately need established Christians today. Christians who know what they believe. Christians who know why they believe it. Christians who will stand when standing is unpopular. Christians who will speak when silence would be easier. Christians who will obey God when obedience costs them something.

The church does not need to become more like the world to reach the world. The church needs to become more like Christ.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TRUTH

Peter said, “I will not be negligent.” Those words carry tremendous weight. Peter understood that possessing truth creates responsibility. If God has entrusted us with His Word, we have an obligation to faithfully proclaim it.

Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Why? Because a time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine, but would gather teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

That time has not eliminated our responsibility. It has increased it.

We cannot determine truth by majority vote. We cannot measure truth by social approval. We cannot alter truth because someone may become offended. The question is not, “What does everybody believe?” The question is, “What has God said?”

The present truth is not whatever happens to be trending today. The present truth is the eternal Word of God applied faithfully to the present hour.

And the greatest truth we can proclaim is still Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He is the Savior of sinners, the hope of the hopeless, the Shepherd of His sheep, and the coming King. The world may change its message, but Christ has not changed. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

So let us not be negligent. Let us remember the truth, stand in the truth, live the truth, and proclaim the truth. The hour is passing. Life is short. Eternity is near. The world needs the truth, and God has entrusted that truth to His people.

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PRAYER

Father, establish us in Your truth. Keep us from compromise, cowardice, and confusion. Remind us of the things we are so easily tempted to forget. Give us courage to stand, wisdom to speak, humility to obey, and faithfulness to proclaim Your Word. Above everything else, keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ, who is the Truth. In His name, Amen.

BDD

Livestream Preaching Times for Monday, August 10, 2026

5:30 AM

“More Than Conquerors”
(Romans 8:35-39)

10:00 AM

“The Grace That Transforms”
(Titus 2:11-14)

1:00 PM

“The Son Greater Than Angels”
(Hebrews 1:5-9)

5:00 pm

“The Deception of Sin”
(Genesis 3:1-7)

TikTok: @dewaynedunawayministries

All times CST

TRUST GOD

Trust is easy to talk about when everything is going well. It is much harder when the road becomes uncertain, the answers do not come, and we cannot see what God is doing.

Faith begins where our ability to understand ends. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

We often want God to show us the whole path before we take the first step. But God rarely works that way. He gives us enough light for today and asks us to trust Him for tomorrow. Abraham went out without knowing where he was going because he trusted the One who was leading him (Hebrews 11:8).

Trust does not mean that we will never be afraid. It means that our fear does not have the final word. David could say, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). Notice that he did not say, “I will never be afraid.” He said that when fear came, he would place his confidence in God.

There will be days when you cannot understand the circumstances, but you can still trust the character of God. He is faithful when we are confused. He is good when life is difficult. He is present when we feel alone. What God has promised, He is able to accomplish (Romans 4:21).

So today, surrender the things you cannot control. Stop trying to carry tomorrow before it arrives. Put your life, your family, your future, and your fears into the hands of the One who knows the end from the beginning. You may not know what tomorrow holds, but you can know who holds tomorrow.

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PRAYER

Lord, teach me to trust You when I cannot understand. Help me to walk by faith, rest in Your promises, and believe that You are working even when I cannot see what You are doing. Amen.

BDD

CHRIST WALKS AMONG HIS CHURCH

When Christ speaks to the church at Ephesus, He introduces Himself as the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands (Revelation 2:1). This is a powerful picture of His relationship with His people.

Christ is not a distant Savior who watches His church from far away. He is present among His people. He knows what is happening in His church, He sees what others cannot see, and He understands the true spiritual condition of those who belong to Him.

The stars remind us that Christ is sovereign over His messengers, while the lampstands represent the churches themselves. He holds His servants securely, and He walks among His churches personally.

Their faithfulness does not escape His notice, and neither do their failures. Every sacrifice, every act of service, every struggle, and every hidden sin is before His eyes.

This should both comfort us and challenge us. We can be encouraged because Christ sees our faithfulness even when others do not. But we should also be humbled because we cannot hide our hearts from Him. He examines His church with perfect knowledge and righteous judgment.

Therefore, let us serve Him faithfully, worship Him sincerely, and remember that wherever His people gather, Christ is in their midst.

BDD

OPEN YOUR BIBLE DAILY

Open your Bible daily because you need God’s Word every day. We would never expect our bodies to remain strong if we refused to eat, and our souls cannot remain strong if we neglect the Word of God.

Jesus said that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The Bible gives us wisdom when we are confused, strength when we are weak, correction when we are wrong, and encouragement when we are discouraged.

Open your Bible daily even when you do not feel like it. Some days the words will leap from the page and speak directly to your heart. Other days you may read and feel as though nothing happened. Keep reading. God’s Word is still working.

The psalmist said that the blessed man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (Psalm 1:2). You may not always see immediate results, but every day in the Word is another day allowing God to shape your mind and heart.

Open your Bible daily because you never know what God may show you. One verse can change your perspective. One promise can strengthen your faith. One warning can keep you from a terrible decision. One truth can remind you that you are not alone.

Make the Bible part of your daily life. Before you listen to the voices of the world, listen to the voice of God. Open your Bible daily, read it prayerfully, believe it faithfully, and live it obediently.

BDD

WHAT TO DO WHEN PEOPLE HURT YOU

One of the hardest things in life is knowing what to do when someone has hurt you. Sometimes the wound comes from a stranger, but often it comes from someone we trusted. Words can wound us. Betrayal can wound us. Rejection can wound us. False accusations can wound us. Sometimes people will misunderstand us, mistreat us, or even deliberately do us wrong. The question is not whether people will hurt us. The question is, What will we do when they do? The Bible gives us a better answer than retaliation, bitterness, or revenge.

REFUSE RETALIATION

When someone hurts us, our first temptation is often to hurt them back. We want them to feel what they made us feel. But the Bible repeatedly teaches us not to repay evil for evil. Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies, bless those who curse them, do good to those who hate them, and pray for those who mistreat them (Matthew 5:44). Paul said “Repay no one evil for evil” and commanded believers not to avenge themselves, because vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:17-19).

David gives us a powerful example. Saul hunted him, lied about him, and sought to kill him, yet David had opportunities to retaliate and refused. David would not take vengeance into his own hands because he trusted God to judge righteously (1 Samuel 24:6).

David understood something we often forget: you do not have to become like the person who hurt you in order to overcome what they did to you. You can remain faithful while they are unfaithful. You can remain kind while they are cruel. You can remain righteous while they are wrong.

RELEASE RESENTMENT

Refusing retaliation is only the beginning. We must also release resentment. It is possible to stop someone from hurting you physically while allowing them to continue hurting you emotionally because you keep replaying what they did. Bitterness can become a prison where the person who wounded you no longer has to do anything because you continue carrying the wound yourself.

Joseph could have spent his entire life consumed by what his brothers had done to him. They betrayed him, sold him, and left him for dead. Yet when God eventually placed Joseph in a position of authority over those same brothers, Joseph chose forgiveness rather than revenge. He told them that although they meant evil against him, God had used the situation for good (Genesis 50:20).

Forgiveness does not mean pretending the wrong never happened. It does not mean calling evil good. It does not mean refusing appropriate boundaries or accountability. Forgiveness means surrendering the desire to personally avenge the wrong and trusting God with the judgment.

Paul said that we should put away bitterness, wrath, anger, and evil speaking, and instead be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving toward one another (Ephesians 4:31-32). You cannot change what happened, but through God’s grace you can decide what that wound will produce in you.

REMEMBER REDEMPTION

The greatest example is Jesus. He was betrayed by one of His own disciples, falsely accused, mocked, beaten, condemned, and crucified even though He was innocent. Yet while hanging on the cross, Jesus prayed for those who were putting Him to death (Luke 23:34). He did not allow their hatred to produce hatred in Him.

Peter pointed to Christ as our example, saying that when Jesus was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus knew that the Father was still in control even when people were doing terrible things to Him.

That is where our hope is found. God can redeem what people meant to destroy. He can take betrayal and use it to deepen our faith. He can take rejection and use it to redirect our lives. He can take wounds and use them to teach us compassion. He can take injustice and use it to develop endurance.

The cross itself proves that the worst thing humans ever did became the instrument through which God accomplished the greatest salvation the world has ever known.

So when people hurt you, refuse retaliation, release resentment, and remember redemption. Don’t let someone else’s sin become your sin. Don’t allow their bitterness to become your bitterness. Don’t allow their cruelty to destroy the tenderness God is trying to produce in you. You may not be able to control what people do to you, but with God’s help, you can control what you become because of what they did.

There is freedom in putting the matter into God’s hands. There is strength in refusing revenge. There is healing in forgiveness. And there is peace in remembering that God has the final word.

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PRAYER

Father, when people hurt me, help me not to retaliate. Give me grace to release bitterness and courage to forgive. Keep me from becoming like those who have wounded me.

Help me trust You with justice, judgment, and the things I cannot change. Take every wound and use it for Your glory. Make me more like Jesus through every trial I face.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

BDD

GOD WANTS THE HEART

From the beginning, God has been interested in more than outward religion. He has always been looking at the heart. It is possible to have the right name, the right heritage, the right religious practices, and even the right vocabulary, while the heart is far from God.

The Old Testament makes this truth unmistakably clear. Being physically descended from Abraham did not guarantee that a person possessed the favor of God. The Jewish nation had been chosen by God, but that did not mean every Jew was walking faithfully with God. God wanted their hearts.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God confronted His people with a sobering truth. They were bringing sacrifices, observing religious days, gathering for worship, and lifting their hands in prayer, but their lives were filled with sin and injustice. God essentially told them that their religious activity had become meaningless because their hearts were wrong.

Their worship could not cover their rebellion. Their sacrifices could not substitute for obedience. Their prayers could not make up for wickedness. God was not looking merely at what they brought to the altar. He was looking at the condition of the people who stood before Him (Isaiah 1:9-17).

This teaches us something we desperately need to remember. God is not impressed by religious activity when the heart is not surrendered to Him. We can attend a worship gathering and still have a wandering heart. We can sing the songs and never worship God in our hearts. We can bow our heads in prayer while harboring bitterness, pride, hatred, or dishonesty. We can know the Scriptures and still refuse to obey what they teach. Outward religion without inward transformation becomes nothing more than a religious performance.

God told His people to stop doing evil and learn to do good. He called them to seek justice, defend the oppressed, care for the fatherless, and plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:16-17). In other words, God wanted their religion to reach their lives. True devotion to God changes the way we treat people. True worship changes the way we speak. True faith changes the way we forgive. True love for God produces obedience, mercy, humility, and righteousness.

This principle did not disappear when the Old Covenant gave way to the New. Jesus repeatedly confronted people who had perfected outward religion while neglecting the heart. He condemned those who honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him (Matthew 15:7-9). He taught that the greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40).

Christianity is not simply about changing our behavior while leaving our hearts untouched. God wants the heart from which our behavior flows.

That is why we must never measure our relationship with God merely by religious activity. We should ask deeper questions.

Do I love God?

Do I love people?

Do I forgive those who hurt me?

Do I seek righteousness when nobody is watching?

Do I care about the hurting, the forgotten, and the oppressed?

Am I willing to repent when God’s Word exposes something wrong in me?

These questions reach much deeper than outward appearances.

The wonderful truth is that God does not merely demand our hearts. He invites us to give them to Him because He first loved us. The Gospel is not a call to perform religion so that God will love us. It is a call to respond to the love God has already demonstrated through Jesus Christ.

When we understand the cross, our hearts should be moved toward repentance, gratitude, obedience, and love. Christ did not die merely to make religious people. He died to redeem people whose hearts could be transformed by His grace.

Let us never become satisfied with looking Christian on the outside while our hearts grow cold on the inside. God has always wanted more than sacrifices, ceremonies, traditions, and appearances. God wants the heart. Give Him your heart today. Let your worship come from love, let your obedience come from faith, and let your life become an expression of what He is doing within you.

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PRAYER

Father, search my heart and reveal anything within me that does not please You. Keep me from empty religion and outward appearances. Teach me to love You sincerely, obey You faithfully, and love others genuinely. Let my worship come from a heart that belongs completely to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen

BDD

THE TOWER OF BABEL

Genesis 11 gives us the account of Babel. Humanity had united in rebellion against God, determined to build a tower and make a name for themselves. Their ambition was great, but their hearts were wrong. Sin had not disappeared from the earth. It was continuing to spread, and mankind continued to resist the authority of God. But even in the midst of human rebellion, God was still working according to His divine purpose.

God confused their language and scattered them across the face of the earth (Genesis 11:7–8). What man intended for his own glory, God brought to an end. Their unity in rebellion was broken, and the nations were scattered,but the scattering of mankind did not mean the scattering of God’s purpose. God was still moving history toward the fulfillment of His promise.

The latter part of Genesis 11 records a genealogy that leads us to Abram. At first glance, a genealogy can seem like nothing more than a list of names. But behind those names is one of the greatest stories ever told. God was preserving a particular family through which He would accomplish His redemptive purpose. From Abraham would come the Hebrew nation, and through that nation would come the promised Messiah.

This is one of the great themes running through the Bible. Sin continued to progress, but the promise continued to advance. Men continued to rebel, but God continued to work. Nations rose and fell, kingdoms came and went, and generations passed away, but God’s purpose never failed.

The Bible is filled with what we might call the Messianic thread. It begins with the promise of the woman’s Seed who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). It continues through Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and ultimately Jesus Christ. Generation after generation, God was weaving the thread of redemption through human history until, in the fullness of time, Christ came into the world (Galatians 4:4).

What a comfort this should be to us. We often look at the confusion of our own generation and wonder where God is working. We see rebellion, corruption, division, and unbelief. But Babel reminds us that human confusion cannot cancel divine purpose. Man may resist God, but man cannot overthrow God. Circumstances may change, but God’s promises remain.

The story of Genesis is not ultimately the story of man’s failure. It is the story of God’s faithfulness. Sin kept advancing, but grace kept moving. Darkness kept spreading, but the promise kept shining. The world was moving toward judgment, but God was also moving history toward a Savior.

And that Savior is Jesus Christ.

The same God who preserved the Messianic thread through generations has given us the assurance that His purposes will ultimately stand. We may not understand everything He is doing, but we can trust the One who is doing it. The world may be confused, but God is not. History may seem chaotic, but God is still writing the story.

Never lose heart because of the condition of the world. The God who worked through Babel, Abraham, Israel, David, and generations of human history is still God today. His promises have not failed, His purposes have not changed, and His Son has already come. The thread has reached its fulfillment in Christ.

Sin continued to progress, but the Messianic thread continued to be woven. And through Jesus Christ, God’s promise became God’s provision.

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PRAYER

Father, help us to trust You when the world seems confused and when circumstances seem beyond our understanding. Remind us that Your purposes cannot fail and Your promises cannot be broken. Thank You for preserving Your redemptive plan throughout history and for sending Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Help us to keep our eyes upon Him and faithfully trust Your purposes until the day we see Him face to face. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

BDD

Livestream Preaching Times for Sunday, August 9, 2026

8:00 AM

“Love Your Enemies”
(Matthew 5:44)

6:00 PM

“Perfected Forever”
(Hebrews 10:10-14)

TikTok: @dewaynedunawayministries

All times CST

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THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

Bitterness is one of the most dangerous things a person can allow to take root in the heart. Hebrews warns us to be careful “lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).

Notice the language.

It is a root. Roots grow beneath the surface where nobody can see them. A person can smile, shake hands, worship, and carry on with life while bitterness is quietly growing underneath it all. Something happened. Someone hurt you. Someone betrayed you. Someone lied about you. Someone treated you unfairly.

And instead of giving the hurt to God, you kept feeding it. Eventually the wound became resentment, resentment became anger, and anger became bitterness.

Bitterness never stays where you put it. It spreads. Hebrews says that many can be “defiled” by it. A bitter person may think, “This is my business. I have a right to feel this way.” But bitterness rarely remains personal. It changes the way you see everybody. You begin judging new people through the wounds caused by old people. You become suspicious. You become defensive. You expect betrayal before trust has even had a chance. You may even begin hurting innocent people because someone else hurt you first.

That is the tragedy of bitterness.

Someone else may have caused the wound, but you are the one who keeps the wound open.

Bitterness also poisons our relationship with God. You cannot continually rehearse what someone did to you while pretending that your heart is walking freely with Christ. “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you” (Ephesians 4:31). God does not tell us to deny that we were hurt. He tells us to surrender the hurt.

Forgiveness does not mean that what happened was acceptable. It does not mean there are no consequences or boundaries. It means you refuse to let another person’s sin become the master of your heart. You place the matter into God’s hands and refuse to drink the poison of resentment hoping that somebody else will die from it.

The hardest part about bitterness is that it can feel justified. We tell ourselves, “After what they did, I have every right to be angry.” Perhaps you do have a reason to be hurt. But having a reason to be hurt does not give you permission to destroy yourself with bitterness.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). That is not weakness. That is spiritual strength. Anybody can retaliate. Anybody can hold a grudge. Anybody can keep a list of offenses. But it takes the grace of God to say, “I will not become what hurt me.”

So pull the root up. Stop rehearsing the offense. Stop telling the story to everybody who will listen. Stop allowing yesterday’s wound to control today’s heart. Bring it to Christ. Pray over it. Forgive where forgiveness is required. Establish boundaries where wisdom demands them. Then move forward.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). The person who hurt you may never apologize. They may never understand what they did. They may never make things right. But you can still be free.

Do not let somebody else’s sin become the root that destroys your soul. Give the wound to God, pull up the bitterness, and let Christ heal what anger could never repair.

BDD

THE POISON OF GOSSIP

Gossip is one of the most destructive sins because it can destroy a person without ever standing in the same room with them. A rumor can travel farther than the truth, and a careless tongue can tear down in minutes what someone spent years building.

The Word of God says, “A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends” (Proverbs 16:28). Gossip does not need proof. It only needs a willing mouth and a listening ear. What begins as “Did you hear?” can become a reputation ruined, a friendship shattered, a family divided, or a congregation wounded. Some people would never pick up a weapon against another person, yet they will use their tongue like a knife.

The Bible does not treat gossip as harmless conversation. God places the talebearer among those who cause real destruction. “A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter” (Proverbs 11:13). There is a difference between seeking help for a genuine problem and spreading somebody’s failures for entertainment, attention, or revenge.

Gossip often disguises itself as concern. “I’m only telling you because I care.” “I thought you needed to know.” “Please don’t tell anybody I told you.” But if the information is unnecessary, unverified, or intended to damage someone, dressing it up as concern does not make it righteous. Sin does not become holy because we put religious language around it.

Gossip also reveals something ugly about the heart of the person spreading it. Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). The mouth eventually exposes what the heart has been storing. A bitter heart produces bitter words. A jealous heart enjoys another person’s failures. A proud heart feels taller when someone else is brought lower. A malicious heart can call destruction “truth” simply because the information happens to be true. Not everything true needs to be repeated.

Love knows when to speak, but love also knows when to remain silent. “Love suffers long and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Sometimes the most Christlike thing you can say about someone is nothing at all.

And consider the damage gossip does to the church. Congregations can survive difficult circumstances, financial problems, disagreements, and even seasons of weakness. But gossip can quietly poison the fellowship from within. James says the tongue is “a fire” and calls it a “world of iniquity” (James 3:5-6).

One conversation becomes another. One accusation becomes an assumption. An assumption becomes a certainty. Before long, people are choosing sides over information they never verified. Brothers stop trusting brothers. Sisters stop trusting sisters. Leaders become discouraged. New Christians become confused. And the devil does not have to destroy the church from the outside when people are willing to wound one another from the inside.

So stop it. Do not carry what God never told you to carry. Do not repeat what you have not verified. Do not use someone else’s weakness as your conversation. If there is a problem, go to the person instead of going around the person (Matthew 18:15).

If you cannot say something that is true, necessary, and loving, keep your mouth shut. Before you repeat the story, ask yourself whether Jesus would be pleased to hear it repeated. Your tongue can be a weapon, or it can be an instrument of grace. “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification” (Ephesians 4:29).

Gossip destroys.

Love protects.

Truth restores.

And sometimes the greatest evidence of Christian maturity is simply knowing when to be silent.

BDD

JEREMIAH: HOPE IN THE MIDST OF RUIN

Jeremiah was a faithful prophet who spent much of his ministry preaching to a people who did not want to hear the truth. After approximately forty years of proclaiming God’s message, Jeremiah found himself imprisoned, perhaps confined in a dungeon. His ministry appeared to be coming to an end, and from a human perspective, there seemed to be little reason for hope. Jerusalem was surrounded by the Chaldean army. The city was about to fall, the land was about to be destroyed, and the people were about to be carried away into captivity. Everything Jeremiah had warned them about was now becoming reality.

Imagine what it must have been like to sit in prison while watching the nation collapse around you. The walls of Jerusalem were being threatened. The people were facing judgment. The land that God had given them was about to be devastated. Jeremiah had spent decades warning them, pleading with them, and calling them back to God. And now, instead of seeing national repentance, he was seeing national ruin.

And Jeremiah knew something else. He knew the captivity would last seventy years. This was not going to be a short season of difficulty. It would span generations. The people would be removed from their homeland and carried into a foreign land. Many of those who witnessed Jerusalem’s destruction would never live to see its restoration. The circumstances looked hopeless.

But God was not finished.

That is one of the great lessons of Jeremiah. Sometimes what looks like the end is simply a chapter in a story that God is still writing. Jerusalem would fall, but God’s promises would not fall. The temple would be destroyed, but God’s purpose would not be destroyed. The people would go into captivity, but they would not remain there forever. God had already determined that after seventy years, He would bring them back.

Jeremiah’s circumstances remind us that faith does not mean pretending that everything is good. Faith looks at the ruins and still believes God. Faith can sit in a prison and still trust the promises of God. Faith can see judgment coming and still know that God’s purposes will ultimately prevail.

Sometimes when our own lives may seem to resemble Jeremiah’s prison. We may look around and see circumstances that appear to be falling apart. We may wonder why God has allowed certain things to happen. We may feel as though our work has accomplished little and our best days are behind us. But God’s silence is not God’s absence, and our circumstances are not the final word.

The Lord was preparing Jeremiah to reveal one of the most beautiful promises in Scripture. In the middle of judgment, God would speak of restoration. In the middle of captivity, He would speak of return. In the middle of despair, He would speak of hope. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Jeremiah teaches us that God’s people can have hope even when everything around them appears hopeless. The prison was real. The siege was real. The coming destruction was real. The seventy years of captivity were real. But God’s promise was more certain than any of those things.

Never measure God’s faithfulness by your present circumstances. Jerusalem was falling, Jeremiah was imprisoned, and the people were going into captivity, yet God was still working. The story was not over. And when God’s people could not see the future, God already knew exactly what He was going to do.

BDD

NAHUM: WHEN MERCY IS REJECTED

The book of Nahum is a solemn reminder that God is merciful, but His mercy must never be mistaken for weakness.

Nahum prophesied concerning Nineveh, the great city of Assyria, before its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. About a hundred years earlier, Jonah had preached to this wicked city, and the people repented. God saw their repentance, turned from the judgment He had threatened, and spared them. Nineveh had experienced the tender mercy of a God who was willing to forgive even a people who had been deeply wicked. But the generation that followed turned away from the God who had shown them mercy.

Nineveh’s story is that yesterday’s repentance cannot substitute for today’s faithfulness. Their fathers had heard Jonah and humbled themselves before God, but the people of Nahum’s day had returned to wickedness. They rejected the very God who had once forgiven them. The mercy that had once rescued them would not excuse their continued rebellion. God is patient, but His patience is designed to lead people to repentance, not to give them permission to continue in sin (Romans 2:4).

Nahum begins by reminding us who God is. “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1:3). What a powerful balance. God is slow to anger, but He is not indifferent to evil. He is compassionate, but He is also righteous. He forgives sin, but He does not approve of sin. His patience should cause us to run toward Him, not presume upon Him.

The judgment of Nineveh was not an emotional reaction from an angry God. It was the righteous response of a holy God to persistent rebellion. Nineveh had been given mercy, but they had rejected it. They had been given an opportunity to change, but they returned to their wicked ways. The same God who had once spared them would now bring judgment upon them. Nahum declares, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” (Nahum 1:7). God is good even when He judges. His goodness is seen not only in His forgiveness, but also in His justice.

There is also a beautiful comfort in Nahum. The prophet’s message was terrible news for Nineveh, but it was good news for God’s oppressed people. “Behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace!” (Nahum 1:15). The fall of Nineveh meant the end of an oppressor. God had not forgotten His people. He had seen their suffering, heard their cries, and would bring the wickedness of their enemies to an end.

Nahum teaches us that no nation, no city, no individual is beyond God’s notice. Nineveh had been great, powerful, wealthy, and feared. Yet none of those things could protect them when they turned against God. Human strength cannot withstand divine judgment. Pride cannot preserve us. Power cannot save us. Only submission to God can give the soul a true refuge.

The message of Nahum is therefore both a warning and an invitation. The warning is simple: do not presume upon the patience of God. Mercy rejected eventually becomes judgment experienced. The invitation is just as simple: while God’s mercy is being offered, receive it. Do not wait until the consequences of rebellion arrive. The God who is “slow to anger” is also the God who is ready to forgive the humble and repentant heart.

Nineveh had once experienced mercy through repentance, but later generations forgot the God who had saved them. Let us never make the same mistake. Remember His mercy. Treasure His forgiveness. Walk in His truth. And never confuse God’s patience with God’s approval.

BDD

DAVID THE FAITHFUL KING

David’s story begins in an unlikely place. He was not born in a palace, raised among royalty, or trained from childhood to wear a crown. He was the youngest son of Jesse, a shepherd boy who spent his days caring for his father’s sheep.

God saw something in David that others could not see. While men looked at outward appearance, God looked at the heart. The Lord chose David to succeed Saul and to become king over Israel (1 Samuel 16:7, 12-13).

Before David ever sat upon a throne, he learned what it meant to trust the One who sits upon the throne of heaven. His faith was tested in the fields before it was tested in the kingdom. He learned courage while protecting sheep from lions and bears.

Then, when Israel stood trembling before Goliath, David did not measure the giant by his own strength. He measured Goliath by the greatness of God. David declared that the battle belonged to the Lord, and he went forward in faith (1 Samuel 17:45-47). The shepherd boy became the champion of Israel because he trusted the faithful God of Israel.

David eventually became king following the death of Saul. He was thirty years old when he began to reign over Israel (2 Samuel 5:4). Under David’s leadership, Israel experienced great military victories and tremendous prosperity. Jerusalem became the center of the kingdom, and David desired to establish the worship of God in the midst of His people.

Yet David’s greatest strength was never his sword, his army, his throne, or his accomplishments. His greatest strength was his dependence upon God.

The Bible describes David as “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22). That does not mean David was a sinless man. He was not. David stumbled badly, and his failures remind us that even great men can fall.

But David had a heart that continually turned back toward God. When confronted with his sin, he humbled himself. When pursued by his enemies, he trusted God. When blessed with victory, he gave God the glory. When broken by his failures, he sought mercy. David understood that the throne belonged to God long before it belonged to him.

David’s life also points beyond David. He was a king, but he was not the King. He was a shepherd, but he was not the Good Shepherd. He ruled Israel, but his kingdom was only a shadow of the greater kingdom that would come through his descendant.

God promised that from David’s house would come a righteous King who would reign with justice and righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6). That promise ultimately finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Son of David and King of kings.

David could defeat Goliath, but Jesus defeated sin and death. David could establish a kingdom, but Jesus established an everlasting kingdom. David could sit upon an earthly throne, but Jesus reigns at the right hand of God. David was a faithful king in many ways, but Christ is the perfectly faithful King in every way.

That is why our hope cannot rest in human leaders, earthly kingdoms, or human strength. Kings rise and fall. Governments change. Men fail. Even the greatest heroes eventually die. But Jesus Christ remains.

He is the faithful King who never abandons His people, never breaks His promises, and never surrenders His throne. His kingdom cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

David’s story teaches us that God can take a shepherd boy and make him a king. More importantly, David’s story points us to the King who came from David’s line and who now reigns forever.

Our Savior is not merely a good king. He is the faithful King. He is worthy of our trust, our obedience, our worship, and our whole heart.

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PRAYER

Father, help me to have a heart that belongs completely to You. Teach me to trust You in the fields before You ever bring me to the throne.

Give me David’s courage to face my giants, David’s humility to confess my failures, and David’s faith to keep trusting You. Above all, help me to keep my eyes upon Jesus Christ, the faithful King who reigns forever.

Amen.

BDD

Livestream Preaching Times for Saturday, August 8, 2026

9:00 AM

“Without the Shedding of Blood There is No Remission”
(Hebrews 9:22)

5:00 PM

“Christ Our Life”
(Colossians 3:4)

TikTok: @dewaynedunawayministries

All times CST

Join us!

WHEN GOD “GAVE THEM OVER” A Study of Romans 1:18–32

Paul does not begin his discussion with homosexuality. He begins with the rejection of God. Romans 1:18 says that God’s wrath is revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness because people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

The problem begins in the heart before it ever becomes an outward behavior. They knew God, but they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful (Romans 1:21). They exchanged the glory of God for images and creatures (Romans 1:23). Then comes the repeated statement: “God gave them over.”

1. GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO UNCLEANNESS — ROMANS 1:24

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24).

Notice the progression. They rejected God, exchanged the truth, and God gave them over. Paul is describing divine judgment through God allowing people to pursue the desires they have chosen.

Questions we need to ask:

• Did God force these people to become sinful, or did He give them over to desires they had already embraced?

• Is “gave them over” describing God creating a desire, or God withdrawing restraint?

• If God’s judgment consists partly in allowing people to experience the consequences of rejecting Him, could the same principle extend beyond sexual behavior to the entire list Paul gives later?

• Why does Paul eventually include envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, pride, and disobedience to parents in the same discussion (Romans 1:29–31)?

Those questions matter because Paul’s argument is considerably broader than homosexuality.

2. GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO VILE PASSIONS — ROMANS 1:26-27

Paul then says that “God gave them up to vile passions,” and describes women exchanging natural relations and men likewise leaving natural relations with women and engaging in sexual relations with men (Romans 1:26–27).

This is unquestionably one of the major texts Christians must take seriously when discussing same-sex sexual behavior. But we should be careful about saying more than Paul says.

Questions every interpretation should answer:

• What exactly does Paul mean by “natural” and “against nature” in this particular context?

• Is Paul discussing sexual behavior generally, or is there a specific cultural situation behind his argument?

• Why does Paul connect this behavior so directly with idolatry and the rejection of God?

• Is Paul addressing sexual orientation as modern people understand that concept, or is he addressing sexual conduct?

• Does Paul distinguish between temptation, desire, and behavior?

• Does the passage teach that every person experiencing same-sex attraction has personally rejected God?

• If “God gave them over” means God caused their desires, how does that fit with Paul’s preceding statement that they first exchanged the truth of God for a lie?

• If it means God permitted them to pursue sinful desires after rejecting Him, what does that tell us about the nature of divine judgment?

These are not questions designed to weaken Scripture. They are questions designed to make us read Scripture carefully.

3. GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEBASED MIND — ROMANS 1:28

Then Paul says something extremely important:

“And even as they did not retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28).

Notice the progression:

They rejected God.
They exchanged the truth.
God gave them over.
Their thinking became corrupted.
Their behavior followed.

And what follows is a long catalog of sins, including covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, deceit, gossip, pride, and disobedience to parents (Romans 1:29-31).

That creates another question that is sometimes overlooked:

Why do we take Romans 1:26–27 and make it the entire point of Romans 1 when Paul himself continues for several more verses describing a much larger rebellion against God?

And there is an even harder question.

Why does Paul immediately turn the spotlight toward the person who is judging others in Romans 2:1?

“You are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself” (Romans 2:1).

That transition is crucial.

Paul does not give us Romans 1 so that we can stand above sinners and congratulate ourselves. He gives us Romans 1 so that by the time we reach Romans 2, we realize that we are all standing beneath the judgment of God.

Romans 1 says, “They are guilty.”

Romans 2 says, “You who judge are guilty too.”

Romans 3 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

That is where the gospel becomes the center of the discussion.

The Christian cannot honestly read Romans 1 and say, “Look at what those people have done.” Romans 2 will not allow it. Neither will Romans 3. The proper response is, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The cross does not excuse sin, but neither does it give sinners permission to boast over other sinners. We proclaim truth because we love people, and we love people because Christ first loved us.

BDD

LOVE IS A WINNING GAME

Amy Winehouse sang about love in a way that captured the pain, confusion, and disappointment that often accompany human relationships. But love, as God designed it, is not a losing game. Love is a winning game.

The world often teaches us that love makes us weak, that kindness gets taken advantage of, and that giving yourself to others only ends in disappointment. But the Gospel tells a different story. God does not lift us up by hatred, bitterness, revenge, or pride. God lifts us up by love. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

When we learn to receive His love and then give that love away, we discover that love does not diminish us. It transforms us.

THE STANDARD OF LOVE. The standard of Christian love is not how other people treat us. The standard is how Christ treated us. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, you also love one another” (John 13:34). That is a standard higher than human emotion. It means loving when it is difficult, forgiving when we have been hurt, speaking truth without cruelty, and refusing to allow someone else’s behavior to determine the condition of our heart.

Love does not mean approving everything. Love does not mean abandoning truth. Love means that even when we stand for truth, we refuse to stop loving the person standing before us. “Love suffers long and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE. Real love costs something. God demonstrated His love not merely by words but by giving His Son for us. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The cross is the greatest picture of love the world has ever seen. Jesus did not wait until we deserved His love. He loved us when we were undeserving. He did not give because we had earned it. He gave because love gives.

There will be times when loving others costs our pride, our time, our comfort, our patience, and sometimes our right to retaliate. But love that costs nothing rarely changes anything.

THE SEQUENCE OF LOVE. There is a divine order to love. God loved us first, we receive His love, and then His love begins to flow through us toward others. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We do not manufacture Christian love by simply trying harder to feel affectionate toward everyone. We first come to the fountain. We receive grace. We remember mercy. We stand beneath the cross. Then what God has poured into us begins to overflow from us.

Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). What fills the heart eventually finds its way into our words, our attitudes, and our actions.

THE SATISFACTION IN LOVE. There is a satisfaction that comes from knowing you have chosen love when you could have chosen bitterness. There is peace in refusing to retaliate. There is freedom in forgiving. There is joy in helping someone who cannot repay you.

The world may call that weakness, but heaven calls it Christlikeness. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Love may not always make life easier, but it makes the heart better. Love may not always change the person we love, but it changes us. And ultimately, love wins because God is love (1 John 4:8).

So today, remember this: love is not a losing game. Love is a winning game. We win when we refuse to become bitter. We win when we forgive. We win when we answer hatred with kindness and cruelty with grace. We win when we love people without compromising the truth of God. And we win because Christ has already demonstrated that love is stronger than sin, stronger than hatred, stronger than rejection, and stronger even than death.

The world may tell us to fight back, get even, and protect ourselves at all costs. Jesus tells us to love. And when we choose the way of Christ, we discover that love was never weakness. Love was the victory all along.

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PRAYER: Lord, teach me to love as You have loved me. Give me a heart that is not controlled by bitterness, anger, pride, or the actions of others. Help me to speak with grace, serve with humility, forgive freely, and stand firmly in truth while never losing love. Let Your love fill me until it overflows into every person I meet. May my life become a living testimony that love is not a losing game. Love is a winning game because love comes from You. Amen.

BDD