Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Dear God, as someone who does fundraising for a nonprofit, this is an issue I remember facing early on—the difference between genuinely loving someone as opposed to trying to manipulate them to give our organization money. I had to approach this in such a way that I had to care about the people donating to our nonprofit or I would feel like a salesman only interested in closing the deal.

I still remember the book Dale Barron, the resource development director at the World Hunger Relief Farm, loaned me. It is called Growing Givers’ Hearts: Treating Fundraising as a Ministry. It helped me to see the donors as people to be loved as opposed to people who could give me money. Instead of them having something I wanted, it became a challenge to figure out a way to make sure they received more than they gave through the process.

There are others I’m supposed to love too. It starts with my wife. Okay, I’m wrong. It starts with you. I’m supposed to genuinely love you, Father. I’m supposed to love you with all of my mind, soul, and strength. Do I? Is my love for you genuine? The honest answer is, “Sometimes.” Sometimes I really love you. Sometimes I don’t love you like I should.

Father, help me to love you like I should. Help me to love others like I should. Let it start with you and then flow to my wife and children. Then let it flow to relatives and friends. Then let it flow to donors, clients, and strangers. Then to my community, state, nation and world. Put the things on my heart that you want me to respond to. Show me the human need you want me to care about, and then give me the passion and vision to pursue it with complete faith in your provision. Do it all for your glory, oh, Lord!

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen