1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
True relationships can only really occur if we’re open and honest with each other. If we try to hide ourselves from each other, or put on ‘masks’, these become barriers between us, keeping us apart; spiritual ‘social distancing’ if you like. To be able to have relationships with each other as we really are requires grace and forgiveness, because what we try to hide is our brokenness and our failings, which also act against relationship. But this is where God’s love is so crucial, through Jesus we are forgiven and are being made new, and through his Spirit we are encouraged and enabled to bear with each other and forgive each other, just as we have been accepted by God and forgiven by him. In this context, his light, we can overcome our barriers and resistance and accept each other and ourselves, and finally be family.
Thank you that you love me and are making me new. Help me to accept myself. Help me too to show grace and compassion to others as you have shown me, that we may truly live as family.
Leave a Reply