10-9-2015

 Good Morning All!!

       Romans 5:10; “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

    “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms.”  A lot of people remember this little childhood ditty.  There seems to be many variations but this is one yours may have been different.  It is just one of those silly kid’s songs that can get stuck in your head and keep playing and playing. 

    Unfortunately, for many people the phrase “nobody likes me, everybody hates me” is a deep held thought.  They look at themselves with such a critical eye that they do not like what they see.  This is true of high school and college kids, especially our young women.  If you poll people this age, many would like to make major changes in their body shape or style.  We rad more and more of young girls getting plastic surgery done prior to graduating from high school; things like lip enhancement injections for fuller lips.  These are not medically necessary surgeries; these are for looks alone.  It is truly one of the saddest commentaries of our life when we see how many people, especially our young people, struggle with liking themselves as they are.

    This is one of the devil’s oldest tricks because if you believe that you don’t like yourself then it is not difficult to think that no one, including God, will like you.  This type of thinking can lead quickly to loneliness and despair which leaves us even more vulnerable to the attacks of the devil.  It can leave us hurting and lost.  Everyone can have these thoughts and fears; nobody is completely immune.

   This is why Paul’s writing in our verse and actually in all of chapter 5 is so encouraging to us.  A couple of verses earlier, Paul tells us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  While we were the ugly ducklings but that did not matter; God loved us enough to redeem us anyway.  Paul doesn’t leave it there; we are not only reconciled, we have life.  We are received, loved, claimed and held by God.  His love for us is beyond any measure and is always there for us regardless of how we think we look, or should look.

    God’s love for us carries no conditions.  His love does not depend on how we look or act.  God’s love depends on God and his love is demonstrated in the fact that he sent Jesus to die for us in order that we would be reconciled back to him.  By being reconciled, we are loved, by our God for who we are.  We are, and always will be, his beloved children and nothing will change that.

Gracious Father, I often struggle with who I am.  I feel lost in this world and feel empty and hated.  Yet you love me.  Your love for me gives me hope.  I know that your love for me will never fade or go away.  Lift me up by your Spirit so that I may enjoy the life that you give me.  Comfort my heart and calm my fears.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret