Dec 18 2024

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

In this verse in Genesis, we learn that all humans are made for relationships with each other. God created Adam and then saw that it was not good for him to be alone, so He created Eve to be his helper. The idea of relationship extends far beyond just husbands and wives, as not all of us are called to marriage. But we are all wired for true and meaningful relationships with other people.

Our relationships with others start with a desire to honor the Lord. Jesus has given us life in Him, and we should share the love that He has shown us with other people. This means we should seek out friendships not only as a way to make our lives more enjoyable, but as an opportunity to spread the love of Jesus.

Jesus himself modeled the purpose of human relationships in our lives. He ministered to the twelve apostles, with Peter, James, and John, being the closest to Him. On the night of His arrest, Jesus asked these three to pray for Him. Although they ended up falling asleep instead of praying, Jesus's request shows us that friendship is also an avenue for spiritual support—we should be praying for our friends.

Friendships are also a way to share the Gospel with other people. Having an established relationship with someone will make both of you inclined to listen to what the other has to say because you care for each other. A relationship builds trust, and over time, as trust is established, your relationship can be a gateway to sharing the Gospel.

Today, we can be praying that God will help us seek out relationships in new ways, and then to honor those relationships as we become conduits for His love.

Dear Lord, I thank you for helping us build relationships with each other. Thank you that we aren't meant to live life alone. Help me to identify the relationships that you have placed in my life and help me be the friend that you want me to be. Thank you, Lord, that you are my greatest friend. In Jesus' name, amen.

Dec 17 2024

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. :

In this verse, Paul tells the members of the church at Colossae that their lives should reflect who they are: the elect of God, holy and beloved. This translates into a variety of characteristics: merciful, kind, humble, meek, longsuffering (showing patience), and forgiving. They should put on these characteristics because Jesus embodied them as well. Let's break this verse apart to understand everything it is telling us.

The verse gives us a powerful description of our identity: the elect of God, holy and beloved. God has chosen each of us to walk with Him. He has decided to call each of us to Himself and, as a result, we are both holy and beloved. We are holy because the blood of Jesus has wiped us clean of our sin, and we are beloved because Jesus has declared His love for us through His death on the cross.

As a result of becoming holy and beloved, we start to become more and more like God. Because we know that we are loved and secure in His love, we are able to show mercy, kindness, and humility to other people. We realize that we have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone, and this frees us from having to seek out affirmation or approval from anyone else. This means we are able to share the love of the Lord freely with the people around us.

Indeed, as we grow in our Christian faith, we will learn to treat other people in the same way that Christ has treated us. As Paul writes, Jesus has forgiven us of much, and so we should also forgive others.

If this seems like an impossible task, we can take heart that the Lord will equip us to do everything He has commanded us to do. He does not expect us to succeed at this independently, but instead, to lean on Him for strength when it feels like we can't do the right thing. We can call out to Him and He will help us "put on" all the attributes that Paul writes about. As we continue to cling to Jesus, we will become more like Him every single day.

Dear Lord, thank you for giving me freedom in Christ to be the kind of person that I was meant to be. Help me remember to go to you when it seems like I'm facing something impossible. Help me lean into your mercies when I should show mercy to someone else. Help me remember the love that you have shown me when I'm struggling to give it to someone else. In Jesus' name, amen.