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.
Pray for Who?
All throughout Jesus’ ministry, He constantly turned things upside down for those listening. The religious leaders at the time had grown distant from following the laws of God. Jesus’ teaching helped bring them back to the heart of the law, but He often did so through surprising ways.
Most of us probably think we do a great job at loving other people. But if we’re being honest, most of us probably spend our time loving those who also love us back. It’s a lot easier to love the people who we’re friends with. When there’s trust built over time and common ground, it’s easy to love.
Jesus says that loving those who love you is not enough. In Luke 6:28, He challenges us to bless those who speak negatively about us, and to pray for those who mistreat us.
If you’ve ever been mistreated by someone, or had someone speak negatively about you, then you know how hard it can be to love that person. It is hard to love unloving people. And yet, Jesus did exactly that. When we were at our worst, He still loved us.
If you find it hard to bless those who mistreat you, begin with prayer. Between you and God in prayer, ask Him to help soften your heart. Ask Him for justice in a specific situation, but also for there to be restoration.
Every person who exists is a person Jesus wants to love. And when we make steps to love those who are unloving, we’re showing the love of Jesus to someone who needs it. As we take steps to pray for those who mistreat us, we become more like Jesus.
Take a few minutes right now to pray. Ask God to help you grow in love towards those around you. If there is someone who has hurt you, ask God to begin healing your heart. Say a prayer for that person as well. Ask God to be with them, to help them, and to make a way for their heart to be softened as well. Thank Jesus that He loved us even when we were unloving.
The Importance of Unity
What does unity mean to you? In a chaotic and divided world, sometimes the word “unity” can sound like something irrelevant, something that just can’t work in the broken world we live in. Division is nothing new. In fact, it was a challenge very early in church history and something the apostle Paul addressed head-on.
In 1 Corinthians 1, we see that Paul had received reports that believers in Corinth were segmenting themselves based on who shared the gospel with them. They said things like, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or, “I am of Christ.” Rather than being united as one body of Christ, they were dividing themselves into smaller groups and factions.
Paul was very moved by this. In 1 Corinthians 1:13 he asks them these simple questions: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul didn’t want the believers of Corinth to get lost in comparisons and separations. He wanted them united under ...
