I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Created to Love Others
When we believe in Jesus and live our lives following after Him, we get to experience His grace and mercy every day! We get to walk in new life and new ways of thinking about God's creation and our place in it. Not to mention, we can rest knowing we are God's own children!
But it can be just as easy to live life thinking only of ourselves and the good things we have received. Jesus spent most of His ministry helping and assisting others, but if we're being honest—and Jesus was always honest, too—most of us have a tendency to be selfish with God's gifts, or ignore opportunities to serve the weak or needy in our everyday lives.
As Paul was speaking to the leaders at the church in Ephesus in Acts 20:35, he made sure to remind them that his life has not been about himself, but about helping others. Paul says that everything he has done has been about helping those who are weak and in need. Paul didn't say these things to boast about himself, he said them to point back to Jesus as the truest example of love.
While the Christian faith is certainly about loving God, it is also about loving others as well. It is about using our new life in Christ to bring positive change to the lives of others—the same positive change Christ brought about in us.
Jesus said that when we use our life to help others, we end up even more blessed. It is always more blessed to give to others than to receive for ourselves.
Take some time to consider the way your own life has been blessed by others. Then, write down a few ways that you can begin to help others who are in need.
What practical ways can you bless those in your neighborhood, work, or school? Begin to build a habit of being a blessing to others.
Justified by Faith
Paul, the writer of the letter to the church in Rome, covers the details of what is known as “the Gospel message”—a message that was handed down to them. It's packed with deep theological truths that are meant to shape the way Christians live.
One of the central components to the Gospel is that salvation comes through faith alone. That means we are saved by the power of God through believing and trusting in Jesus. Every Christian comes to God through faith—not through good deeds or by trying to earn salvation.
Paul says that we have peace with God by our faith in Jesus. Prior to that, we were considered ungodly and unrighteous—because we would live our lives in our own power, doing our own things. This led to separation from God.
However, by faith in Jesus, we are justified before Him. This means that through Jesus’ own right-living, we are made right before Him. Even though we still make mistakes, we can stand innocent before God because of Jesus.
It’s ...
