25
Mar '19
Set Free!
25
Mar '19
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
My mom was the only child born to a 13-year-old single mother in the 1930s. She grew up poor and feeling unloved. My mom was an angry woman who didn’t appear to like being a mom. She raised us the same way she’d been raised, with a harsh tone and little affection. So we grew up feeling unloved too. Around fourth grade, mired in shame and guilt of my own, I began to lash out at others. The girls who seemed to come from loving and caring families became the ones I targeted on the playground after school. I hated those girls. My actions didn’t make me feel better, though. In fact, I felt worse. One summer during Vacation Bible School, I learned about Jesus. I learned that he loved me to the point of death on the cross and that he died so that I would not have to feel shame and worthlessness. I couldn’t imagine someone loving me like that. I finally felt comforted, knowing that someone loved me. I was a new creation. (See 2 Cor. 5:17.) I didn’t have to hate girls whose moms took care of them. In loving others who came from better circumstances than I did, I could actually experience the love of God and become the kind of person God intended me to be.
Dear Lord, give us the desire to show others love as you have loved us and the strength to treat others well regardless of our circumstances. Amen.
This devotion blessed me. I pray it changes your perspective regardless of your circumstances and in return show The Love of Christ and pray for those who treat you badly. You never know what that individual is dealing with. A moment of hate can devastate a lifetime of work, whereas a moment of love can break barriers that took a lifetime to build. Use me today Lord to love beyond my own circumstances and help break barriers that may have taken a lifetime to build for you are The Way, The Truth and The Life. Use me to help others experience your Love so they too can become the kind of person you intended them to be.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalms 19:14