I’ve often heard people say that kids are little sponges. They soak up everything they hear and see and experience.

Well, we all know what happens when you squeeze a sponge. Whatever was soaked up comes oozing back out.

So you better be careful what you say or do in front of a child.

But the truth is that all people, no matter the age, are really sponges. We put back in the world whatever is given to us, good or bad. When someone bumps into me without an apology or even acknowledgement, I tend to feel like being rude to other people. When someone smiles while holding the door for me, I tend to feel like being kind to other people. It’s human nature.

God wants to upend those spongy tendencies.

“We love because he first loved us.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Instead of oozing out the negativity I encounter in this world, He wants me to love no matter what. By spending time with Him, I soak up His love until I’m saturated. Then His love is what will come dripping out when I’m squeezed.

If I’m feeling full of despair and negativity — because the world has a lot of that to soak up! — I need to ask God to wring me out and fill me up with His love instead.

Dear God,

Thank you for loving me. Thank you for providing more love than I can possibly absorb. Please wring out all the evil from me today so that I can soak up your love until it drips out onto everyone I encounter.