ABOUNDING IN LOVE “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” Psalm 103:8 The Lord is compassionate. He sees us right where we are. He is never too busy for us and is always there in our time of need. We are never unnoticed. In Matthew 9 we see Jesus display His compassion beautifully, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) Jesus is moved by His compassion. He never leaves us where we are or alone. The Lord is gracious, this means that He gives good things to undeserving people. We can and will never deserve His grace and love, yet He lavishes us with it. His grace is what kept Him on the cross to pay the price for our sin. We did not deserve His sacrifice, yet He freely gave Himself to save us. There is nothing else like His grace. His grace saves. The Lord is slow to anger. He is not quick to condemn. He is extremely patient and kind. We constantly fall short and seem to even make the same mistakes over and over again. Yet our God is slow to anger and continues to stay close and help us be more like Him. His patience is very different from ours. We have a hard time waiting a few hours, and He can wait thousands of years. His timing is different than ours, and for that we should be very thankful. He is patient with us because of His love for us. The Lord is abounding in love, this means that He overflows with love toward us. When we see His compassion, grace, and patience, they all reveal His abounding love. We are surrounded by His abounding love. From the beginning of time, He has shown His love for us. His sacrifice on the cross reveals His abounding love. His incarnation reveals His abounding love. His life reveals His abounding love. His wound on His side and the holes in His hands and feet reveal His abounding love. Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect on His abounding love in our lives and thank Him for who He is and all that He has done God bless you!