From the Inside Out
It's hard to want good things for someone who's hurt us. Even if we can muster up a polite response when we see them, their very name can still bring up the same memories and the same pain. Before long, we can find ourselves almost consumed with keeping score so that we can keep our distance. Even when we have good reasons to be careful, we also need to ask what holding onto our suffering is doing to us.
God reaches into those parts of our lives that we'd rather leave in dark corners, including the weights we've carried and how we've learned to live with them. Even when our struggles and trauma are real, we can find hope in being loved by Someone who sees us fully and offers to walk with us in it all. We can bring everything we struggle with to Him, trusting Him to give us a strength beyond ourselves in order to step into a love greater than ourselves.
#Abide #FirstJohn #FromTheInsideOut
Message Series Description:
At the heart of the Christian life is the love God has revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John’s first letter reminds us that love is not some abstract idea but rather the lived reality of those who belong to God, having been redeemed and cherished by Him. His love calls us out of darkness into light, out of fear into confidence, and out of self-centeredness into intentional, sacrificial care for others. When we abide in His love, we not only find assurance of our own salvation by His unmerited favor, but we also become witnesses to and agents of His grace into the world around us. The words of John invite us to be shaped by God’s love so lavishly that it flows through us in every relationship and sphere of life.
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