If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Loved by God
Daily Devotion – January 25, 2019
Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:17
See series: Devotions
A woman got a new job in customer service. All day, every day, she answered complaints with a smile on her face. One day when she came home, her husband asked how things were going at work. She said, “Customer service would be a wonderful job if it weren’t for the people.”
People can be a challenge for us all. When there’s a breakdown in a marriage relationship, it’s like having a disease; you feel it in every part of your life. When children argue and disobey, they test their parents’ patience. An uncaring boss can make you hate your job. Troublesome neighbors make you want to move somewhere far away. How do you deal with people who make your life difficult? God’s Word speaks of an old way of doing things and a new way.
The old way is to count people’s flaws and hold them against them. The old way is to view people as obstacles to our happiness. In other words, the old way is to do the opposite of what God tells us. God tells us to love others. The old way ignores God and puts ourselves, first. For all the complaining we may do about people, we don’t always stop to consider that God has that much of a right and more to complain about us.
Instead, God sent us his Son. When people did their worst to Jesus, he turned the other cheek. When they crucified him without cause, he prayed for their forgiveness. On his cross, Jesus paid for the sins of everyone, including you. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we no longer view people from a worldly point of view.
Loved by God, forgiven in Christ, connected to Jesus by faith, each of us is a new creation, and God has given us a new way of doing things. We can love as we are loved. We can forgive as we are forgiven. The old is gone; the new has come.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me and paying for all my sins. Help me fight against my old sinful nature. Help me love others as you love me. Amen.
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