READ: GENESIS 1:11-31; 2:15-22; ROMANS 8:18-30; REVELATION 21:1-7

We often think that God made animals for us. It’s true, right? Because Adam named them, and God says that we have dominion over them? A problem with this way of thinking is that it can be used to justify the misuse of God’s creation. But actually, God created everything out of the overflow of His love. And when He created humans, He gave us the responsibility to care well for animals and all of creation. In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Some Bible translations say that God gave us “dominion over” all these creatures.

If you notice, humans are made after the rest of creation, and then put in charge of the animals and plants. We are the stewards of creation. This means that we are called to take care of it for God, and we can enjoy it, but it doesn’t ultimately belong to us. Creation belongs to God. This really shows that God loves us—He invites us to enjoy His creation, cultivate it, and use it in countless creative ways. But because it’s His, we need to treat it with respect, and love.

Sadly, our relationship with nature has been corrupted because of our sin. Ever since humans first rejected God and His good ways at the fall in Genesis 3, sin has been in the world, and this is the cause of all the death, sadness, and toil that we experience today. But, God has promised to make all things new. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, He defeated sin and death. And when Jesus comes back, He will restore the heavens and the earth—He will make a perfect creation with no more death and suffering. Then all the people who have put their trust in Jesus will rule over this new creation with perfect love. Until that day, He helps us learn to act as good stewards of all He created. • Elijah Walsh

• How have you seen God’s love for you in His creation?

• We live after the fall, so creation is not as it was meant to be. And the sinful choices of people continue to take a toll on plants, animals, and ecosystems. How have you seen the corrupting effects of sin on nature? Consider taking a moment to bring any concerns you have to God. He cares about His creation, including people, and He provides forgiveness and restoration through Jesus. You can also ask Him to help you notice practical ways you can care for His world.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule…over all the creatures…” Genesis 1:26 (NIV) 

READ: PSALMS 32; 51; ISAIAH 1:16-18; 1 PETER 2:23-25

I don’t know about you, but I love wearing freshly washed clothes. Especially when it’s cold outside and the clothes are still warm right after they come out of the dryer! Having clean clothes just makes me feel more comfortable and confident.

But imagine this: you wear your favorite shirt to a restaurant, and then you accidentally spill a bit of food on it. You should wash it as soon as you get home, right? But imagine that instead of doing that, you decide to pretend the spill isn’t there, and you put off washing it. Instead, you keep wearing it. Day after day goes by, and the shirt just keeps getting filthier and filthier. Before you know it, the shirt is a total mess!

It can be the same way with sin. We all sin many times a day in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. We can either bring our sin to God, or we can try to cover it up or pretend it’s not there. If we ignore our sin day after day and keep making choices that go against God and His good ways, then before you know it, we’ve created quite a mess.

I don’t know why we often feel the need to hide from God. He already knows our every thought, our every motive, and our every desire. And no matter how badly we mess up, He still loves us and cares for us. We don’t ever have to be afraid to admit our sins to God because He has already made the way for us to be forgiven. Confessing our sins is like letting God clean our clothes. Because Jesus took all our sin upon Himself on the cross, we can be clothed in His forgiveness. • Elizabeth Blanton

• Have you ever tried to hide anything from God? In Psalm 32, David felt terrible when he kept silent about his sin. But when he confessed it to God, he experienced the joy of forgiveness. Have you ever experienced the joy of God’s forgiveness? What was that like?

• When Jesus died on the cross, He took all our sin upon Himself. And when He rose from the grave, He defeated sin and death. So now, if we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we are totally righteous and pure in God’s sight. And when Jesus returns, we won’t struggle with sin anymore. But until that day, God calls us to confess our sin to Him often. While it’s impossible to confess every single sin, it’s good to take time to remember Jesus’s sacrifice for us and the power He gives us to turn away from sin and back toward Him (Psalm 19:12-14). Consider taking a moment to confess any sins that come to mind and thank God for His grace.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Psalm 51:2 (NIV) 

READ: PSALMS 9:9-10; 27:8-14; MATTHEW 11:28-30; JOHN 10:10

Come to me.

Come out of darkness.

Don’t look at the shifting shadows.

Don’t listen

to the slithering snake.

Look at the dawn,

light breaking through.

There is hope and joy.

How I delight in you!

You beat yourself all black and blue—

it grieves My heart.

Let Me lead and I will heal.

I will show You things

that will bring life.

I am gentle and lowly,

come and talk with Me,

do not fight, My child. • Catherine Valentine

• Can you think of a time you felt reluctant to speak to God? Maybe you’re feeling that way right now. It happens to all of us sometimes. Satan loves to feed us lies to try to keep us from interacting with God, convincing us that He doesn’t love us or He isn’t good or He doesn’t want to hear from us until we’ve cleaned up the messy parts of our lives. Do any of these lies resonate with you? Do other lies come to mind? Who is a trusted Christian in your life who could help you sort through the lies and bring them into the light of God’s wonderful truth and love? If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future. (James 1:17)

• In the Bible, serpents are often associated with the lies of the enemy (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9). Satan wants to deceive us and tempt us to try to do things on our own—and then trap us in despair and self-hatred when we fail or when things don’t turn out like we expected. But Jesus is always breaking through with hope. He is infinitely more powerful than the enemy, and He came to set us free. How have you experienced Jesus’s hope in your life? In what ways has He brought you joy or shown you His love?

[Jesus said,] “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29 (NIV) 

READ: PHILIPPIANS 3:17; TITUS 2:1-8; HEBREWS 10:24-25

I’m so thankful for the people God has placed in my life. He has this incredible way of working everything out to give us just what we need. He knows when I need support from someone. He knows when I can’t do it on my own. He knows exactly who to put in my path and when to bring them into my life.

There have been many times on my journey when God has brought godly people into my life—people who were older than me, farther along life’s journey than me. They could speak into the things I was going through with love, care, and truth.

We are not meant to walk this life alone. There is so much wisdom to be gained from people who have gone before us. They can provide a listening ear and share how God has shown up in their lives so we can look for Him in similar ways. They can warn us of the ways we should avoid and tell us what happens when we walk down a bad path. And even when we mess up, they can remind us of Jesus’s faithful love and forgiveness, and they can help us get back on the path of following Him.

I’m thankful for each one of these people who have mentored me. I also know that God has equipped me to mentor others—and He has equipped you too. Even as a teenager, you can be an example to someone who is younger than you. You may not realize it, but kids look up to you, and they’re already learning from watching you. You can pour into their lives by sharing experiences you’ve had and being someone they can turn to when things are difficult.

God can, and will, work through you to be a blessing in the lives of people who are younger than you, and He will also provide older mentors who can walk with you as you navigate unfamiliar territory. • Tynea Lewis

• As Christians, we know that Jesus is always with us, mentoring us. But how does it feel when you know there’s also someone else who will listen to you and help you when things are tough?

• Do you have any Christian adults in your life you look up to as mentors? If not, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future.

• Who is someone you could intentionally pour into? Maybe it’s a younger teen from church, or a kid you babysit, or someone in your neighborhood? Consider taking a moment to pray for this person, and ask God to help you notice ways you could listen to them and encourage them.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 (NIV) 

READ: JOB 19:5-27; 38:1-15; LUKE 13:34; ROMANS 8:18-29, 38-39

Wow, I am so small. The thought was involuntary. And irrefutable. It wasn’t good or bad. It was just true. I was walking through a tropical conservatory, and it was like being transported to another world. Shielded from the elements by the glass panes of a giant greenhouse, the trees in this mini-rainforest towered above me. Leaves two or three times taller than me hung down like great curtains. Other branches stretched up, reaching toward the ceiling fifty feet above my head.

Surrounded by such foliage, I felt a bit like Job. Before entering the conservatory, I had been pouring out my complaints against God. Much like Job, I had told God how unfair I thought He was being, how angry I was, how much He had hurt me, and how I wondered if I could even trust Him. Everything was too much—too much to bear, too much to carry. Too much was being asked of me. Now, faced with these mighty trees, I felt my own smallness. And yet, I didn’t feel afraid or unimportant. I was in awe of the trees—and the one who made them. Their leaves felt like a protective canopy, like the wings of a mother hen gathering in her chicks.

God answered Job’s accusations by showing him what He had made—the heights of the heavens, the depths of the seas, and the might of amazing creatures. Job must have felt so small. Perhaps that’s what led him to say, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

God hasn’t given me answers to my questions, and I may never fully understand what He’s doing in this lifetime. But maybe I don’t have to. Maybe it’s enough to know that God is on the throne, and He is working all things together for His purposes. He stretches His wings over me like a mother hen gathering in her chicks. I might have more accusations to hurl at God tomorrow. But if He’s big enough to make the mighty trees of the rainforest, then I can trust that He’s big enough to work all of the mess in my life into something worthwhile. • Taylor Eising

• Job pours out all his complaints, even accusing God of wronging him (Job 19:6). But in the end Job concludes, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). Have you ever poured out your complaints against God? God invites us to bring Him the good, the bad, and the ugly. He loves us, and He wants to bring healing to our hearts. In fact, Jesus died and rose from the dead to make that healing possible. But we usually can’t receive healing without first acknowledging our hurts. What hurts do you have to bring before Him today?

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2 (NIV) 

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:3-7; 1 JOHN 4:16

Maybe you’re like me, and you’ve found yourself struggling with same-sex attraction. Or maybe you haven’t personally experienced this, but some of your friends have come out as LGBTQ+. You may wrestle with knowing how to respond. Should you still be friends with them? How much do you agree with your friends, and how much don’t you? What does “love” mean in this scenario?

Although this could be (and should be) a much longer conversation, let’s dive into how to love our friends when they come out to us by using three characteristics listed in 1 Corinthians 13.

“Love is…kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). I am giving you permission to be kind to your friends—no matter how they identify. It is God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Additionally, our friends who identify as attracted to people of the same sex may not need repentance from it. They are simply telling us how they are tempted sexually. Temptation of any variety is not a sin (Hebrews 4:15).

“Love…rejoices whenever the truth wins out” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). I have watched people change their theology of marriage overnight when a friend comes out. They see their friend genuinely in pain over what they reveal (or happy for the first time in a long time), and they conclude, “We must have gotten marriage wrong.” The church has unquestionably gotten loving people in the midst of any type of wrestling wrong, but the Bible isn’t wrong when it comes to marriage and sexuality. Loving your friend well means loving them toward daily surrender of any type of sin struggle.

“Love never gives up” (1 Corinthians 13:7). If your friend rejects you, don’t reject them. If they wander from the faith, you stay connected. As one friend said to me, “You are so annoying in your pursuit of me—and so like Jesus!” Be annoying like Jesus—just like He is in His pursuit of you—as you love your equally broken friends. Never give up on them.

Truly loving someone is not easy—it is costly. But it is the only way I know how to demonstrate the heart of the one whose name is Love. • Laurie Krieg

• Whenever we read 1 Corinthians 13, it’s vital to remember that this is the way Jesus loves us. Consider taking some time to read this passage slowly, and just rest in Jesus’s love for you.

• Throughout the Bible, God blesses marriage between one man and one woman. He makes it clear that the relationship between a husband and wife should reflect the loving and faithful relationship between Christ and the church, and that sex is a good gift to be shared and enjoyed by a husband and wife within marriage. While being attracted to someone of the same sex is not a sin, acting on those attractions by pursuing a sexual encounter is sin. In the same way, pursuing a sexual encounter with someone of the opposite sex who is not our spouse is also a sin. And lusting after anyone is a sin as well. But, thanks be to God, He extends forgiveness to us through Jesus’s death and resurrection. The truth is, we are all equally broken with sin and in need of Jesus. And even after we’ve put our trust in Jesus to save us, He calls us to live in a daily rhythm of confession, repentance, and thankfulness as we rest in His forgiveness. How should these truths affect the way we interact with people who struggle with different temptations than we do?

• Read Hebrews 4:14-16. Why is it important to know that Jesus Himself was tempted yet was without sin?

• Who do you know who is wrestling with their sexuality right now? Have you responded to them in love? Consider taking some time to pray for this person, asking God to bless them and to help you love them well.

• How can you do the work of love today—specifically in being kind, rejoicing in the truth, and never giving up?

• If you’re struggling with how to best love your LGBTQ+ friends, reach out to The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. They can offer you loving and nonjudgmental support and point you to people you can talk with and/or resources that may help you in your journey: centerforfaith.com/contact

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 7:18–8:2; EPHESIANS 3:14-21

My eyes snapped awake, and I searched inside of myself: Do I still feel the attraction? One second of introspection revealed the dreaded answer: Yes. I’m still attracted to her.

I felt like this shouldn’t be. I was a pastor’s daughter. I led worship and small groups at my church. I loved Jesus as much as I knew how, and here I was: a Jesus-loving-and-fearing woman who was attracted to other women.

I had been in a secret same-sex relationship for months, but I didn’t even call her my girlfriend. We were simply two Christian best friends who loved each other deeply…and yet…there was this sexual aspect to it. I both hated and loved it.

I felt a lot like Paul in Romans 7: “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind…Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (verse 22-24).

I knew the answer Paul stated in the next verse. I did not like it: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

But how? I questioned God. I love You, but here I am, wrestling with what most Christians do not even call a “sin struggle.” I feel I am automatically categorized as the worst type of human until it is gone. But I couldn’t stop. I could not pray the attractions out of me.

I wish present-day me could go back into that moment, cup my face in my hands, and say some words of hope: Dear one, it’s okay. Everyone has broken sexuality. This is simply your version. Find someone you can talk to about this, who will love you as you are and who will teach you not only to know Jesus’s love but also how to experience it. Then you will be empowered to daily surrender all your brokenness to Him (Ephesians 3:19).

Those words would come to me soon, but I offer them to you today: You are not the worst. You’re simply broken—like everyone else. • Laurie Krieg

• Can you think of a time you felt like today’s author felt, and like Paul felt in Romans 7?

• Do you view people who wrestle with same-sex attractions differently than you view those who struggle with heterosexual lust? Why?

• Why is it important to know that we are all broken and struggling with sin—that we are all desperately in need of Jesus and the forgiveness He extends to us through His death and resurrection? (Daniel 9:9; Romans 3:23-24; 10:9-13) If you want to know more about Jesus and why we all need Him, see our "Know Jesus" page.

• Do you wrestle with shame or self-hatred because of your sexuality? God loves you right now—right here in the midst of your struggles—and He wants to help you. How can you take the next right step to reach out to a trusted Christian who can help you not only know God’s love for you but experience it?

• God created sexual intimacy as a good gift to be shared and enjoyed between a husband and wife within marriage. Though we may experience attraction to people who are not our spouse, we don’t need to act on these attractions, either by pursuing a sexual encounter or by lusting. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us and helps us follow God’s good ways, regardless of the temptations we face. What a relief! Through the Holy Spirit, we have the power to live godly lives because of His life in us (2 Peter 1:3). Instead of focusing on temptation, He calls us to set our minds on His Spirit in us and His good desires for us (Romans 8:5). When we are facing temptation, it can be helpful to remember that, as Christians, God has already given us the power to say “no” to any sin. And even when we do sin, the Holy Spirit helps us to repent by reminding us of God’s infinite love and unbreakable forgiveness. What questions do you have about marriage, sexuality, sin, repentance, etc.?

• If you’re wrestling with your sexuality and need someone safe to talk with, you can reach out to The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. They can offer you loving and nonjudgmental support and point you to people you can talk with and/or resources that may help you in your journey: centerforfaith.com/contact

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:19 (NLT)

READ: LUKE 22:54-62; JOHN 21:15-25; ROMANS 3:23-24

Will I go to hell for how I am? This question invaded my mind on too many occasions for me to count, especially after observing other people’s Christian walks. Usually, they appeared to be extremely holy people who had their righteous lives intact. Nothing fazed them, they committed no wrongdoings—at least, not in public—and they referred to their prayer lives often. Reading the Bible and speaking to God through prayer seemed like second nature to them. It didn’t for me.

I struggled for years to pray and read my Bible daily. But it wasn’t that I lived my life separately from what I heard on Sundays or that I didn’t even think about God throughout the week. I just had a difficult time setting up good habits. During that time, I kept wondering about God’s tolerance of my lackluster performance. Especially, I thought, in comparison to my clearly better-suited fellow humans. They seemed much holier than I was.

Cue teenage me discovering John 21. It’s uncoincidentally located right after Jesus reinstates Peter. Peter had denied Jesus three times before Jesus’s death on the cross. But now, in this passage, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” And each time, when Peter says yes, Jesus responds, “Feed my lambs… Shepherd my sheep… Feed my sheep.” This echoes the three times Peter denied Him, showing that Jesus is reinstating Peter as a disciple. Jesus goes on to tell Peter the kind of death he will die to glorify God, and then He says to Peter, “Follow me.” But Peter notices another disciple, John, is following them. Peter asks Jesus, “What about him?” That’s when Jesus said one of the most liberating things I’ve ever heard: What’s it to you?

The last thing Jesus wants us to do is selfishly worry about others’ relationships with Him—that’s not our concern. The truth is, we all fall short of God’s holiness, but Jesus has given each of us grace, and that is the grace we are to be concerned with. You are free to focus on your relationship with Him, not the apparent relationships of others with Him. • Carson D. Jacobs

• In what ways might you be focusing on others’ relationships with Jesus instead of your own?

• How do you think you can develop healthy Bible-reading and prayer habits? Don’t worry about doing it just like someone else—find out what works for you! For example, how do you usually prefer to talk on the phone? Pacing? Sitting down? Figure out which way is most comfortable for you and try mimicking that while praying.

“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” John 21:22 (CSB) 

READ: JOHN 10:1-30

Every time I get a voicemail from my mom, I smile. I’ve heard her voice almost every day of my life. So if I know anyone’s voice, it’s hers. What always makes me smile is the fact that she still feels the need to tell me that it’s her leaving the voicemail.

It’s not just my mom’s voice that I hear and instantly know. I have some close friends and family members I talk with all the time. They can leave a voicemail without a name, and I know who they are. But, if someone I didn’t know very well left me a message without a name, I would have no clue who they were.

Jesus says His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, we become His sheep. He is our good shepherd (John 10:11). So, as Christians, we spend time listening to His voice so we can know it and follow Him. We can do this by absorbing the truth of the gospel—meditating on who Jesus is and what He has done in the pages of God’s Word, the Bible. Throughout the Bible, God reveals His unending love and steadfast character, ultimately making Himself known to us through Jesus (John 1:18). As we press into relationship with Jesus through spending time in His Word, in prayer, and with His people, it will become easier and easier for us to discern His voice. • Melissa Yeagle

• How have you heard people talk about listening to God’s voice?

• Have you ever tried to listen to God’s voice? What was that like?

• The primary way God speaks to us is through His Word, the Bible. And the gospel (good news) is the lens through which we understand His Word, because the whole Bible points to Jesus and hinges on His death and resurrection. If you want to know more about the gospel, see our "Know Jesus" page.

• Learning to listen to God’s voice takes time, and we’ll keep learning until the day Jesus returns— then we won’t need to discern anymore because we’ll see Jesus face to face! But in the meantime, if we know Jesus His Holy Spirit lives in us, reminding us of everything Jesus has said and helping us discern His voice. We can also talk to trusted Christians and help each other answer questions like: Does this agree with the Bible? Does this glorify God the Father and God the Son? Does this bring the fruit of the Spirit and hope, or condemnation and fear? Remember, God will never ask us to sin, and He will never break His promises. If you want to dig deeper, read John 3:17; 14:26; 16:12-15; Romans 8:1; Galatians 5:22-23.

[Jesus said,] “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (CSB) 

READ: ISAIAH 53:1-5; MATTHEW 2:13-18; JOHN 13:2-5

Son of Man

• We live in a world that has been broken by sin, and we all experience hardships, like sickness, injuries, the pain of loss, and the suffering of loneliness. What kinds of suffering and pain have you experienced lately?

• Sometimes, it’s easy to think that God is far removed from us and our lives. But that’s not true! In Jesus, God came to be with us. In fact, one of the names for Jesus is Immanuel, which means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). It can be hard to picture the almighty, perfectly holy God being present here, in the midst of our messy lives. But the truth is, God is not afraid of our mess. He loves us so much that Jesus came and died and rose again to be with us—mess and all. He paid the price for our sins with His life, then He ascended into heaven so that His Holy Spirit could live in us. That means, once we know Jesus, we never have to go through the mess of life alone. And Jesus promises to return one day to get rid of all the mess, sin, and brokenness forever. Hallelujah! Consider spending some time in prayer, asking God to remind you of how He is with you right here, right now, in the middle of your mess.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38 (NLT)