Topic: What do you prefer? [Joyce Meyer Devotional 31 January 2020]
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Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor.— Romans 12:10 (AMP)
Giving preference to others requires a willingness to adapt and adjust. It means to allow another to go first or to have the best of something.
We show preference when we give someone else the best cut of meat on the platter instead of keeping it back for ourselves. We show preference when we allow someone with fewer groceries in his cart than we have in ours to go in front of us at the supermarket checkout counter, or when we are waiting in line to use a public restroom and someone behind us in line is pregnant or elderly and we choose to let that individual go ahead of us.
Each time we show preference we have to make a mental adjustment. We were planning to be first, but we decide to be second. We are in a hurry, but we decide to wait on someone else who seems to have a greater need. A person is not yet rooted and grounded in love until they have learned to show preference to others (see Ephesians 3:17).
Don’t just learn to adjust, but learn to do it with a good attitude. Learning to do these things is learning to walk in love.
Prayer Starter: Father, help me to truly prefer other people today with a good attitude. Help me to humble myself and love others the way You do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.