1 Timothy 1:14, “The love that is in Christ Jesus.”

It is easy to love when someone loves you, isn’t it? Reciprocal love is sweet and special. But how do you love when someone does not like you? How about when they throw abuse in your face? Hate you? Disrespect you? Misuse you? What do you do then? Maybe you can cope with it when it is someone outside the home. It is not so personal. But how do you cope when they are members of your own family? Help!

I am sure you are familiar with the different Greek words for love. The first is eros which is sexual love. It gives pleasure to the senses. It is a God-given love, but this kind of love is not enough to hold a marriage together for life. It takes other kinds of love—phileo (and storge, which is similar to phileo) and agape. Phileo and agape are both necessary in marriage and family life, and, of course, in all relationships.

Phileo is tender affectionate love. It is a maternal love. It is the love we feel with our emotions. Titus 2:4 speaks of phileo love when it exhorts the young women to “love their husbands, to love their children.” Some marriages live happily together when both show phileo love to one another. But when phileo love turns off in either the husband or wife, then there are problems. It is then we need agape love.

Agape love is God’s love. It is the very character of God. It goes beyond natural feelings. It keeps loving even when abused and hated. It keeps loving even when the person is ugly and horrible. Agape loves because it wills to love whereas phileo loves according to how we feel. Agape loves indiscriminately whereas phileo discriminates. Agape loves unconditionally whereas phileo is conditional. Agape loves in spite of, whereas phileo loves because of. Agape love never fails whereas phileo love often fails.

Agape love is not in you or me! My flesh only knows phileo love. Agape love is only in Christ. 1 Timothy 1:14 and 2 Timothy 1:13 speak about “the love which is Christ Jesus.” The amazing revelation is that Christ Jesus lives in me! Because He lives in me by His Holy Spirit, agape love is in me! Wow! In Christ I can love with agape love! This is miraculous. This is supernatural. Can you believe it? As we believe it, affirm it, confess it and walk in it by faith, we can love the unlovely, love when abused, love when rejected, love when despitefully used. Oh the power of redemption. Jesus Christ not only redeems us from our sin, but comes to indwell us by His Holy Spirit with all His love, joy, peace and longsuffering.

Agape love is described by different words in the New Testament. Shall we look at them together? Each one of the following 31 points are a real challenge to me but the last one I mention is the one that God is really speaking to me about as I mother in the home. You’ll have to keep reading to the end of Part 5 to find out!

Unfeigned Love

Agape love is not hypocritical. The Knox translation calls it “unaffected love”. It is unaffected by circumstances or the behavior of the person. Read Romans 12:9; 2 Corinthians 6:6 and 1 Peter 1:22.

Genuine and Sincere Love

“To prove the sincerity of your love.” (2 Corinthians 8:8)

Serving Love

“By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13) The word serve is doueuo which means to serve like a slave. We don’t serve because we are a slave but we serve as hard as a slave is expected to serve. We serve because we love. Many times you can feel overwhelmed by the tasks you face as a mother. There is so much work to do. Every sweet little child adds more work. Your husband expects you to do this and do that. Help! You feel like a slave! Dear mother, change your thinking. Don’t think of yourself as a servant. Think love. Love loves to serve. Love serves with delight. Love is serving.

Forbearing Love

“Forbearing one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2) Forbearing means to endure and put up with those who are difficult to put up with! It means to bear patiently with idiosyncrasies that annoy you. This kind of love bears lovingly with the weaknesses of those in those in your home. I love the Way’s translation of 1 Corinthians 13:4 which says, “Love is long-forbearing.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, my love is totally inadequate. I thank you so much that your agape love resides in me. Please help me to walk in your love. Amen.”

I am entering into a new realm of love.


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Jeremiah 29:5, “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.”

The first home was built by God. The predominant thing about this home is that it was a garden. It was called the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:7, 15) The word Eden means delight. The first home was a prototype of all homes to come. Consequently, God wants our homes today to also be places of delight. We should seek to make our homes lovely, whether small or big. Of course we know that there is more to a home than the beautiful architecture and the décor. A beautiful looking home can have a cold and hateful atmosphere. A little hut can be filled with the atmosphere of heaven.      

But there is something we must take notice of. The first home was a garden. God wants our home to be more than brick and timber. He wants it to be a garden, too. The garden was part of God’s plan for the home. It adds beauty to the home, but it also supports the home. The Knox translation of the above Scripture states it clear, “I would have you… plant yourselves gardens of your own to support you.” We often forget about gardens today because every kind of food we need from anywhere in the world is available at the local supermarket. We don’t really need a garden, or do we?

I am a great believer in keeping to the plan that God established in the beginning. I believe that part of our homemaking ministry is to help feed our family from the home garden. It provides for the family. It saves money. The nutritional benefit far surpasses any vegetables or fruit you can purchase at the supermarket. Most of them are sprayed with chemicals, and even if you could afford to buy organic vegetables, how long have they been sitting on the shelf? There is nothing more wonderful than to go to the home garden, harvest vegetables straight from the plants and prepare them for the meal immediately. This is the ultimate plan.

“Just a minute,” you exclaim. I can’t have a garden. I live in an apartment. This doesn’t relate to me.” Or maybe you live in a high rise. How can you have a garden? Even if you do have room for a garden, there are still challenges to face. When we moved to our land over seven years ago, we had plenty of room for a garden, but we still couldn’t grow anything. Our soil consisted of clay and stones. We had to purchase dirt which we protect by keeping it in raised beds. I keep replenishing my earth with compost and manure. I have a compost bucket under my counter where I save all peelings and raw scraps.

If you don’t have room to grow a garden outside, you can still grow herbs and vegetables in pots on your verandah or deck. You can grow herbs in pots on your windowsill. And if, for some impossible reason, you can’t do this, grow some sprouts! Grow something. Bring greenery into your home. Make it a garden. Make it a delight.

There are many Scriptures relating God with gardens. Where did God fellowship with Adam and Eve at the end of each day? In the garden! (Genesis 3:8-10)

Song of Solomon 8:13 tells us that our Heavenly Bridegroom dwells in the garden.

It was in a garden that Jesus was crucified, laid in the tomb and rose from the dead! (John 19:41; 20:15-16)

Isaiah 51:3, says, “For the Lord shall comfort Zion... and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.” (cf. Genesis 13; 10) This is talking about God’s garden! We should also have Nancy’s garden, Susie’s garden, Debbie’s garden and so on.

What about your garden?

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Lord, for showing me that a garden is part of the home. Please show me the best way to grow a garden in my situation. Amen.””

AFFIRMATION:

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week.

Jeremiah 8:4, “Thus saith the Lord, Shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return?”

Have you failed recently? Or have you fallen into a hole right now? You feel stuck and don’t know how to get out. We have all been in this place. But I want to remind you that you don’t have to  stay down, you don’t have to stay in your hole and you don’t have to continue feeling like a failure! God has promised that when you fall, you will rise again.

I like the NLT translation of Jeremiah 8:4, “This is what the Lord says: when people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they start down the wrong road and discover their mistake, don’t they turn back?” It is instinctive within us to get up again. Watch a little baby learning to walk. He falls over many times, but every time he gets up, with a smile on his face, and off he goes again. We continue to fall throughout our lives. It is part of life. But we are not meant to stay down. We were born to get up again! Here are some other Scriptures to encourage you:

Job 5:19, “He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.”

Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

Psalm 40:2-3, “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” You don’t have to stay in your pit of despair. Put your hand up to the Lord He will take hold of it and pull you out, no matter how far you have sunk in the mud and the mire. He will do more than that. He will put a new song in your mouth.  People will not only see it, they will see the joy on your face.

Proverbs 24:16, “A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” Is it just the wicked who fall? No. it is the godly also. You don’t have to feel a failure for falling—as long as you get up again! The NLT translates is, “They may trip seven times, and each time they will arise.” Take heart from these words. I want you read them again… “each time they will arise.” Each time you will arise too.

Micah 7:8, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall I shall arise: when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”

Thank God for this wonderful hope.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Lord, for your encouragement to me that when I fall I will arise again. I thank you that you are the lifter up of my head, and you are my deliverer when I fall. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Jeremiah 6:16; “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls, But they said, we will not walk therein.”

The second thing God wants shepherdesses to provide for their little flock is to lead them into REST.

What about rest? Does this mean the children can loaf around and do what they like? No, this is not talking about laziness. It is a rest of peacefulness. It is rest from tension and strife. The shepherdess leads her family into a restful atmosphere. Ezekiel 34:14 Knox says, “I will lead them into fair pastures, the high mountains of Israel shall be their feeding ground, the mountains of Israel, with soft grass for them to rest on.”

It is delightful to lie down in soft grass, isn’t it?  Who can lie down in prickly grass? No one. The shepherdess/mother seeks to eradicate all prickliness from the atmosphere of her home. She works as a peacemaker against all contention. She leads her family to soft grass. It’s beckoning. It’s comfortable.

Of course, life is never perfect. There will always be conflicts to overcome in the home. There are often arguments and upsets. The enemy is always lurking around to disrupt the peace and make the grass prickly. But the shepherdess is also a watchwoman. She guards her family from the attacks of the enemy. She uses the weapon of intercession to push back the enemy of discord. She prays in the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit to put out the fires of discord and bring harmony and peace. I am often challenged by Proverbs 18:6 which says, “A fool’s lips enter into contention.” We can dissipate many conflicts if we bite our lips!  

The shepherdess who safely folds her flock also makes sure everything is clean and in order in her home. It is difficult to rest in a home that is out of order.

We need to remind ourselves that God calls the home a resting place. Numbers 10:33 tells us that God went before the children of Israel to search out a resting place for them.

Proverbs 24:15 gives a strong warning to anyone who destroys the peace and rest of a godly home, “Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting place.”
Isaiah 32:18, "My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”
Hosea 11:11 Knox,  “And in their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.”

May you live in rest in your home of rest.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“I pray, Lord, that you will help me to make the grass soft for my children to lie in. Help me to lead them away from prickly grass.  Help me to create an atmosphere of rest. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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