John 3:16 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Explanation:

In one of the most familiar verses in the Bible, Jesus delivers a concise summary of His gospel message. Nicodemus, the person Jesus is speaking to in this passage, is a teacher of Jewish law—highly educated and respected—yet oblivious to the path of salvation. We can learn a lot about God’s love from how Jesus describes His earthly mission so simply to Nicodemus.

One of my favorite Bible teachers, the late J. Vernon McGee, said, “there are no intellectual barriers to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ–it’s the easiest message in the world to understand. There are only sin barriers in our heart that keep us from accepting it.” That is why the appeal Jesus makes is to the heart, so that human reasoning cannot complicate the message. Jesus Christ is Truth, and when my desperate cry for help met the simple Truth of salvation, my heart embraced it, and my mind had no choice but to surrender the arguments against it. The best decision I ever made gave me the most freedom I ever experienced.

God was under no obligation to provide mankind an escape from death and eternal separation from Him. And if He wanted to, He could have made the process of salvation so complex that few would be able to grasp it and lay hold of eternal life. But the unconditional love He showed by sending His Son to die for mankind is the same love He showed by making salvation simple enough for everyone to understand.

Application:

1. Why does it matter that the call to salvation appeals to the heart and not the mind?

2. How would you respond to someone who says they have intellectual issues with accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ?

3. How can you use your testimony to provide clarity in that situation?

Devo Plus:

Read John 3:1-20 for the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for making a way for me to be saved and enjoy eternal life with You. Please bring people into my life who need to hear the good news of salvation, and may my testimony be powerful and effective to lead them to Christ. Amen.

Isaiah 53:1-6 (ESV)

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

    and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

    and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

Explanation:

This passage of scripture was prophetically spoken by the prophet Isaiah during the seventh century, hundreds of years before Jesus. Although Isaiah never mentions Jesus by name, he speaks of and describes the suffering servant:

1. no beauty that we should desire him

2. was despised and rejected by men

3. a man of sorrows

4. he has borne our griefs

5. we esteemed him not

All these point to Jesus and the life He experienced here on earth. He demonstrated a life of servitude and humility. The Jewish religious leaders rejected His ministry and despised His followers. He was often criticized for showing grace to those culture deemed unlovable. Jesus was despised by the religious elite because He associated with sinners.

Isaiah continues describing what this servant went through for the sins of other people:

1. smitten by God and afflicted

2. he was pierced for our transgressions

3. crushed for our iniquities

4. upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace

5. with his wounds we are healed

6. the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all

This account of the suffering servant describes the life and death of Jesus Christ in great detail. The prophet Isaiah spoke to the Israelites, telling them that God had a plan for their redemption. He was going to send his Son, Jesus, to save mankind from their sin. Scripture tells us that Jesus lived a sinless life, but was falsely accused, arrested, and persecuted. God poured out His just wrath on Jesus because our transgressions were great and deserved to be punished. Jesus was beaten, tortured, and hung naked on a wooden cross with nails through His wrist and feet. Once he died, He was pierced in the side with a spear. Jesus’s death and resurrection brought us peace. It restored the relationship with God the Father. This was the same intimacy humanity had with God in the garden of Eden, before the Fall, and what believers will experience one day with God in heaven.

Application:

1. By Jesus’s wounds we are healed is a sobering reminder of just how serious our sin really is. How do you think about sin in your life, and what steps can you take to remove it?

2. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–everyone-to his own way sounds like our culture today. The good news is that Jesus was often referred to in scripture as the Good Shepherd who leads His people back to Himself. What person in your life needs to hear about the saving grace of Jesus?

3. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all is also referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus’s death allowed us to be in right standing with the Creator of all things. How can knowing this truth help you in your walk with God?

Devo Plus:

Read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 and see what else describes the life of Jesus.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus in our place! We know we deserve death, but You poured out Your grace and mercy to save us all. Remind me of this truth when I am struggling and not feeling worthy. You died for me, and I’m so grateful for that free gift of salvation. Thank You, Jesus.

Ephesians 2:1-9 (NRSV)

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.  But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Explanation:

When I read this passage, I am humbled. Paul lays it out for us right out of the gate: we were dead because of our sins. Walking around in physical bodies, spiritually dead. Every single human shares this condition from birth; our sin condemns us to death. Until we understand and accept the incredible gift we’ve been given, every day that we walk on earth, we are literally on death row.

We are separated from God because of sin, but because of His amazing gift, we get to live. Our death row sentence was pardoned because God made the choice to rescue us. It’s important to understand there is nothing we could do to reverse this sentence–it’s only God’s grace that saves us. There’s no amount of “being a good person” that will save us from death. It’s truly the decision to accept the gift placed before us that drives us to desire to do good things.

Allow me to be very clear, there’s nothing that I can do to buy my way into heaven. I can do nice things for others, I can be generous, and I can follow all the rules laid out in front of me–but that doesn’t get me eternal life. Only by making the decision to place my life in God’s hands and ask Him to forgive my sins will I have life. THEN, because I want Him to guide my choices, my actions, and my finances…my good works and generosity will serve as a complement to me wanting to live the example Jesus lived for all of us. I must first accept the gift…and then I can live.

Application:

1. Imagine you are one of the people of the church in Ephesus, and you’re hearing this letter Paul wrote for the first time. How does it make you feel?

2. Think about the best gift (in the physical) you’ve ever received, and how you felt when you got it. Now compare that physical gift to the gift God has given us through salvation. Can you see how the physical things pale in comparison to living with Jesus for eternity? Be encouraged! The best is yet to come!

Devo Plus:

Some additional scriptures about death and the gift of our salvation: John 11:25-26, 2 Timothy 2:11, Revelation 21:3-4

Prayer:

During your prayer time, ask God to help you remained focused each day on the gift you have through Jesus. Ask Him to guide your thoughts and actions with that gift at the top of your mind.

Romans 1:1; 16-17 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Explanation:

Set apart for the gospel. What a unique thought. What an incredible privilege. When the Apostle Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), Jesus blinded him and told him to travel somewhere and wait for further instructions. Jesus said, “you will be told what you are to do.” Three days later, Jesus sent Ananias to both restore Paul’s vision and to communicate to Paul that he was, “a chosen instrument of mine (Jesus) to carry my (Jesus) name before the Gentiles (non-Jews) and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). This would have been the first time that Paul was informed he was set apart to spread the message of the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles.

When we catch back up with Paul in today’s reading, 20 some years have passed, and Paul is still holding firm to that calling. His endurance for the cause of Christ and for delivering the message of the gospel is astounding. Sure, he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus, but something even outside of that was driving him to endure a very challenging life. That something was the power of the gospel message…a message that spoke of Jesus, the son of God, who came to live a human life, die for a despicable people He loved, and be resurrected so they could once again be able to connect to the holy Father. A holy Father who created them and gave them a path to true life. This would not have happened without Jesus, and Paul knew this. Therefore, he dedicated his life as a servant of Christ Jesus, in order that everyone who believed in this message would forever be changed.

Friends, this message is still active today, and just as powerful as it was in Paul’s day. When we choose to believe the message, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ. We, like Paul, have a message to tell, one that not only has changed our lives forever, but has the power to change all who believe. That is nothing to be ashamed of. That is something to be empowered by.

Application:

1. Outside of his calling from Jesus, what do you think compelled the Apostle Paul to spread the message of the gospel?

2. What would it look like for someone to be ashamed of the gospel?

3. What would it look like for someone NOT to be ashamed of the gospel?

4. What is revealed about God though the gospel?

5. How are you too “set apart” for the gospel of God?

Devo Plus:

Read Acts 9:1-22. In what ways did Paul’s conversion empower him to share the gospel message?

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You that we have the gospel story to share because of You. Jesus, I do not want to be ashamed of the gospel, for I know it is a message that brings true life. I know the world around me may not understand its power, and tries to give me reasons to be ashamed of it…but help me to hold fast to the calling You have on my life to share the gospel with others.

Matthew 19:1-9

“Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Explanation:

To give us some clarity as to Christ’s heart in this passage, we must look at three things: 1) Historical context, 2) The heart of God as expressed through Christ, 3) What Jesus is not saying.

1. Historical context: The certificate of divorce that was required in the Law of God was a protection given to the divorced woman. Throughout much of history, women had little to no rights or abilities to care for themselves or their children if not within the household of a father or husband. God directed Moses to require the certificate because it allowed the woman to be released from the husband’s household and find marriage or return to her father. Without the certificate, no man could marry her without fear of committing adultery, which left the woman often exposed and homeless, and would often drive women to prostitution to provide for the needs of her and her children. The certificate of divorce was allowed because men were divorcing for any reason they saw fit (some even speculate for a burnt dinner). This promulgated the notion at the time that women were mere property, and when one did not like the model they had, they could simply discard it for it another.

2. The Heart of God through Christ: In addressing the topic of divorce, Jesus emphasizes God’s desire for relationships. When a man and a woman join in marriage, they are not mere property or resources to be consumed by each other. They are representatives of the Image of God to each other for the purpose of giving help, care, and joy to each other. They are meant to unite physically, spiritually, and emotionally for the purpose of reflecting God’s love to each other. This union is not something to discard lightly, because God intends for it to last, even through the difficult process of learning to love each other (note I didn’t say falling in love).

3. What Jesus is not saying: We all are sinful, and our brokenness affects every relationship we have. Difficulty in marriage is not a reason to break the relationship. However, Jesus identifies a level of sinfulness where the relationship may be abandoned: adultery. He does not say it has to be abandoned, but that it can be. Paul will later expound on Jesus to say abandonment and adultery are reasons for divorce (1 Corinthians 7:10). Both Paul and Jesus create the ideal where commitment to the relationship reflects God’s commitment to us, where reconciliation happens, and where Christ’s power to overcome sin through repentance, love, grace, and mercy are displayed. That said, neither Jesus nor Paul, is supplying a teaching that allows for the continued abuse of a spouse. Spousal abuse is abandonment of the marriage covenant, and is the antithesis of Jesus’s call and commitment to relationships. The passage is not meant to be a weapon used to keep someone in physical danger, where ownership is the goal, not relationship.

The heart of Jesus is for couples to approach the relationship with the value that God does, as two Image Bearers uniting within a covenant for the betterment of each other, despite difficulty, hardship, or fleeting feelings. However, when physical danger, abandonment, or rejection of the marriage covenant is not willing to be repented of, there are grounds for breaking that relationship with the hope that even the abuser, adulterer, and abandoner would repent and find true life in Christ.

Application:

1. Do I value relationships the way Jesus values them?

2. Am I allowing my feelings to dictate my desire to continue a relationship?

3. Are there ways that I fail to repent and hurt my relationships?

4. What do I need to change?

Note: If you find yourself the victim of abuse within a relationship, please reach out to a friend or organization for help, such as the battered women’s shelter in Lancaster. As you navigate your situation, if The Tree Church can help you find freedom and hope through pastoral care or our counseling services, please let us know by calling 750-654-5894, or email us at [email protected].

Prayer:

God, give us the same heart for relationships that You have. Help us to trust that even through difficulty and struggle, You can sustain us. Convict us where we fail to reflect Your love, grace, and mercy to each other. Help us to change. And protect those who find themselves in harmful situations. Help them to have the courage to find freedom and new life. In Your precious name…Amen.

Ephesians 4:29-5:2 (NIV)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Explanation:

Words are like weapons. They can be fierce, cutting, and destructive. The worst part of our words is that they can’t be unsaid. They can linger like the fog after a storm. This passage encourages us to imitate God like a child imitates their parents. As believers, our words are supposed to have purpose. When others have offended us, we are to be compassionate and forgiving of each other—just like God has forgiven us. If we are pursuing the call to imitate Christ, we take a position of love with one another. Anger is not productive. Bitterness causes our hearts to become hard.

So how do we walk in love? There are so many situations in life where it’s easy to react from our flesh. Our flesh desires instant gratification…and winning. Being Christ-like means that we aren’t often going to “win” in these situations. We must consistently saturate ourselves in God’s Word. Let it soak into our pores so our more natural reaction is not to speak in anger or destruction…it is to love. It’s never going to be “natural” for us to react in love to each situation. Our flesh desires instant gratification—the rush of the “win”; so we must consistently be in check with what it means to “Love Well!”

Application:

1. What actions can you take to model the behavior we’ve been called to?

2. Is there a particular part of today’s scripture that you can apply as an “action” step toward being more Christ-like?

3. Can you think of a situation where you’ve put “winning” an argument over walking in love? If you could do something different, what would you have done?

Devo Plus:

Read the following scriptures about walking in love: 2 John 1:6, John 13:34, Colossians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 5:14

Prayer:

Ask God to help you model your behaviors after His image. Ask Him to guide your interactions, both verbal and written, so you may learn to walk in love more consistently.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NIrV)

You are God’s chosen people. You are holy and dearly loved. So put on tender mercy and kindness as if they were your clothes. Don’t be proud. Be gentle and patient. Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you. And over all these good things put on love. Love holds them all together perfectly as if they were one.

Explanation:

This above scripture is talking about the way we should act toward others when following Christ, especially in our relationships. We need to get along with each other, forgive one another just as Christ forgive us. We need to show love with one another, and if we don’t, nothing else works.

Have you been in a relationship where you feel like you just couldn’t forgive the person who wronged you? Whether it is a parent/child relationship, a spouse, a friend, or a family member, those are exhausting relationships to be in when things go wrong. I have had a relationship in my life where I felt like God was nudging me to forgive, even though I didn’t want to. I wanted that person to experience the pain I felt. However, that is not the way it usually works. First of all, the person didn’t even know I was still mad, and second, it was harming me, not them. That unforgiveness started to leak into my other relationships and affect them. Once I finally forgave that person, I felt like the weight was lifted off me. It allowed me to see them the way God does, and I was better able to understand their situation.

I want to be able to do this all the time in all of my relationships. When I’m offended, I want to talk about it sooner rather than later. I don’t want to shut it all in, dwell on it, and pretend everything is ok. I want to love people the way God asks me. All these things in today’s scripture are hard to do on our own, but when we choose to follow God, He will help us every time.

Application:

1. Is there a person in your life who you need to talk with so your relationship can be restored? If so, what steps can you take today to begin this process?

2. What relationship is being affected by some unforgiveness in your heart? Ask God to show you what to do in those situations.

3. Re-read the above scripture and write down the thing you struggle with the most (i.e., being proud, gentle, patient, forgiving or loving one another), and ask God to help you be better at that in your relationships.

Devo Plus:

Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive one another, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done. (Ephesians 4:32 NIrV)

Prayer:

Father, help me to love and see people the way You see them, and to forgive when I need to forgive. When I am wronged, remind me to come to You first and know You have everything under control. Love You, Father!

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (ESV)

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Explanation:

It’s way too easy in life to just go through the motions. We can do this with all aspects of our lives, but the same can be true when it comes to how and when we love. Paul reminds us in today’s reading that love is truly at the heart of the Christian life. More so, it can become very easy to get caught up in walking the motions of Christianity and yet be void of love in those actions. We can do all the things Paul mentions, which may be seen in the Christian world as the godliest of actions. But if it is not rooted or motivated by a love for Christ or others, it’s lacking the fuel God gave us to experience the full life He designed us to live. How often do we go to church, attend our Connect Group, give, pray, read our Bibles, and even serve others purely out of obligation or religious duty?

One of the main reasons that Christ died was to show the Father’s love to the world. Remember, God so loved the world that He sent Christ (John 3:16). As a follower of Christ, He has built you to go and live the same way. To not live and act in love is such a numb way to live. You don’t want that, and those on the receiving end of your actions don’t want that either. Paul graciously reminds us what a Christ-like love can look like. We see that it is not a butterfly feeling that we summon up in our stomach; rather, true love is gritty. It’s a selfless and pure expression of our heavenly Father’s love.

My friends, this is a love only Christ can bring to our hearts. Many times, we become robotic in our Christian faith and wonder how we can summon up this type of love. We are quick to forget that God wants us to enjoy His love, and in the overflow of His love, go and minister to others. We must spend time with God to let Him minister to us, love on us, recondition our hearts and minds, and then He’ll send us out to share that love with others. Let’s not be a people who go through the motions for Christ.

Application:

1. Describe a time when you have found yourself going through the motions with your Christian faith.

2. Why would the Apostle Paul say that going through the motions can be “nothing” for us and others?

3. Why is it important to first be loved by God before we go give love to others or act in our Christian faith?

4. What is different about the love Paul describes in today’s verses and what you see being expressed in the world around you?

5. How would you like to mature in how you love over the next days, weeks, months, and years ahead?

Devo Plus:

After you have finished reading today’s devotional and answered the questions, take some additional time to ask God for a single word or phrase that would define the type of love you would like to love others with during this next season of your life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for Your love. I pray that I never lose sight of how deep Your love is for me. I do not want to go through the motions with my faith; rather, I want to desire to love with a Christ-like love. I ask that You share that deep reservoir of love with me today and fill me up, so I can go and love others with that same love.

Romans 12:1-3 (NIrV)

Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way. Don’t live the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.

God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you.

Explanation:

We’ve been learning for the last couple weeks what it means to die to ourselves. We should be living in a way that puts others' needs before our own. This way of living doesn’t come easily; it takes work and dedication. Today’s scripture states, “Let your way of thinking be completely changed.” We can’t continue to live the way this world lives, and be Jesus to other people we are in relationship with. It doesn’t work. If we allow God to work in our lives, and we continue to put our selfish desires aside, we will see the benefits and God’s amazing work fulfilled in our lives.

This is especially true in marriage, a relationship that is like no other. If my husband and I continue to put our selfish desires aside and serve one another, our relationship will go deeper and deeper in Christ, and will spill over into other areas of our lives. This won’t be easy. It takes commitment, but eventually it will become second nature. God promises to be with us in this, and if we come to Him with it, He will be our help and strength!

Application:

1. Think of a relationship you can try this with. Apply it today.

2. Ask for God to help you commit to putting your desires away and serving others.

3. Journal your results.

Devo Plus:

This week, think of a relationship you admire. Look for a relationship that really shows Jesus to others. Connect with them. Ask them some questions! Get advice and encouragement from them. God gives us these relationships to do this life together!

Prayer:

God, we are selfish by nature. We want things. We desire our own ways. Help us to transform our thinking to be more in line with Yours. Help us commit our time to You and help us to love others well. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-15 (ESV)

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Explanation:

A consistent idea that Jesus puts forth in the gospels is that being forgiven and forgiving others goes hand in hand (Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:37). When He teaches His disciples to pray, as in the above passage, included within the prayer is the request to both be forgiven and to have the wherewithal to forgive others. This begs the question, why does Jesus tie the request to be forgiven with the need to forgive others?

I think the answer lies at the heart of what it means to be forgiven and follow Christ. If forgiveness is a free pass to get out of the “bad place” and to get into the “good place,” this teaching will not make sense. However, if following Christ means being forgiven so we can walk in relationship with Him, that will put us in proximity to the One who paid the price for that forgiveness with His own flesh and blood. It will keep before us the lavish grace which He poured out, and continues to pour out on us every single day. It will constantly call us to forget our own ways of handling life, and look to Christ to define new paths to life. In essence, it will be impossible to be in proximity to the level of grace and forgiveness given to us without it changing us and how we view those who offend us. I am not implying that this is a simple process, nor that it is immediate or easy. But the type of grace God offers us in Jesus, and invites us to live in, will not suffer unforgiveness in our lives.

Being in proximity to the grace and love of Jesus breathes new life into the relationships we encounter every day, despite the damage sin has done to them. When we live within the grace-filled relationship Jesus offers, He changes how we walk in relationship with others.

Application:

1. Have you found forgiveness to be an easy or difficult thing to do?

2. Why do you think getting even often feels better than forgiving?

3. Is there something you have been struggling to forgive?

4. How does reflecting on Christ’s forgiveness of you change your desire to forgive? Do you feel convicted, comforted, challenged, overwhelmed by it?

5. Take some time to list all the ways God chose to be gracious with you, and then ask God to help you desire forgiveness in your relationships with others.

Devo Plus:

Read Romans 6, keeping in mind how the grace of God changes how we approach life.

Prayer:

Father, please forgive me for not wanting to be forgiving. I know that You are calling me to a different way of being, and I want to be different. I have experienced the type of grace You have given me, and I want others to experience it as well. Allow me the grace to model it and put it on display in my life. But I need Your help. Help me to remember all the ways You have forgiven me, and help me extend that to others. Amen.