Today's Reading:O.T. - Nehemiah 10 - 11
N.T. - Hebrews 13
Focus Verses: Hebrews 13:1-3
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Insight:
Love, benevolence, social justice, and empathy are all essential to living out our faith in God. We should be loving, hospitable, and caring. Followers of Christ Jesus should have soft hearts toward those who are being mistreated and those who are suffering.
Response and Action:
I want to have a Christ-like love for my Christian brothers and sisters. I want love, genuine concern to guide my attitudes and actions toward all people. I need to open my eyes to the needs of people around me. I need to cultivate a compassion and empathy for those who are suffering, and take action to help them. I need to be a helper and friend for those who are in difficult circumstances.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is darkness, light. Grant that I might not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving we receive; it is in pardoning, we receive pardon; it is in giving that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Proverbs: 6:23
"For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life..."
Resources:
Practical Justice: Living Off-center in a Self-centered World
by Kevin Blue
