Alert and On Guard

Be alert and on your guard; stand firm in your faith (your conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, keeping the trust and holy fervor born of faith and a part of it).  Act like men and be courageous; grow in strength!  Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God's love for us).  1 Cor 16:13-14

Going to go preachy a little here.  How many of us are treating those around us in love.  Do we really want them to turn around and treat us the way that we are treating them?  Do you smile at those around you or do you keep your head down hoping they will just keep on going and leave you to your work in peace?  If your son or daughter comes and sits by you, do you stop what you are doing and give them a hug or do you act as if what you are doing is more important and they need to give you a minute?  If it were Jesus standing in front of you, would you tease Him the way you interact with others or would you "clean" it up?  Is what you are doing reflecting that your inner spirit truly knows the love God has for you?  Just curious.  I feel like my behavior came sometimes really come up a notch.  Like maybe I am failing to reflect Jesus the way that my heart wants to, but my mouth just doesn't always do.  Maybe its just me.  Maybe you are always proud of your interactions with others.  Mine could really use some work.  The heart intention is right, but the mouth just doesn't always keep in line.  Sorry, that was free.
Today my prayer for you is that your life would truly reflect Christ and that you would be growing more like Him each day.  I pray that you would be alert and on guard against anything that might cause someone else to stumble in their walk or that might cause you to not reflect God in a good light.  That you would be in tune to the Holy Spirit's conviction in your life and that your relationships with all those around you would be respectful.  That you would trust Him completely and jump in obedience when He corrects you or encourages you to respond differently the next time.  That you would be sold out for Him and it would be obvious to all those around you and that you would be contagious in your excitement for God.  I pray that you would act like men and women of God who are courageously growing in His strength and that everything you do would be done out of your love for Him.  That His love would inspire you to love others more fully.  This is my prayer for you.