Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie, but didn’t like certain things that happened or maybe how it ended? Maybe you loved everything else about it, but there was just that one little thing that made your skin crawl. And then, maybe, you think, “You know what? I’m just going to erase that. I’ll make the ending even better!” I’ve certainly done that before (ahem, the last trilogy of Star Wars simply isn’t canon).

When it comes to fiction, that’s fine and dandy. You do you, bestie.

Here’s the kicker. Have you ever read something in the Bible, something startling or questionable, and it made you pause and scratch your head? While you can change the contents of books and movies to fit your narrative better, we cannot - and absolutely should not - change the Word of God to align with “our truth.” (There is no such thing as YOUR truth or OUR truth. There is only THE Truth.)

In verse 31 of chapter 8, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” If we are to hold onto His teachings, that means we should be submissive to His word. Every aspect of our lives should be molded by His Word. Yes, even the more difficult parts and maybe even the parts you may not like.

And do you want to know a secret? You don’t have to feel shame if you dislike something in the Bible. By no means do you need to stay in that dislike, but it is okay. I’ve disliked parts of it, too. But we go to God in prayer and say, “Hey, God. It’s me. I know you wrote this. I know it’s in your Word, but it’s just not jiving with me. Can You help me understand?”

Scripture isn’t around to validate us or our feelings. It is here to save us, and usually, salvation is a messy and uncomfortable process.

When we ask God to change our hearts and mold them to conform to the truth, He’ll help us get there. It may not be easy, but God never said this journey would be an easy one. And no matter how hard it is, it will always be worth it.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Take a moment to ask God to reveal to you any truths that you may be twisting to better suit your ideas and feelings.
• Once those have been brought to light, ask Him to change your heart so it more accurately aligns with His.

Family Application: John 8

By: Carrington Stuart

Today’s story from the Book of John talks about a woman who was in trouble, but Jesus stood up for her! I’m so excited to talk about it. One day, Jesus was teaching people. While He was teaching, some of the other teachers who were jealous of Jesus, called Pharisees, brought a woman to Him. The woman had sinned, and they wanted to punish her. Remember, sinning is when we know the right thing to do, but we do the wrong thing anyway. Just like our parents correct us when we do something wrong, God corrects us when we do the wrong thing, too.

Even though the woman was in trouble and should have been punished, Jesus stopped the people. He told them that it was not their job to hurt her because that was the wrong thing to do, too. Nobody is perfect, except Jesus. That’s why He didn’t want the other people to hurt her – Jesus wanted to teach them the right thing to do.

After the crowd went away, Jesus taught her about forgiveness. Forgiveness is when you are kind to someone even when they did something wrong - and you don’t even remind them of what they did wrong. That’s how Jesus forgives us – He tells us that He loves us even when we do the wrong thing.

Even though Jesus did not want the Pharisees to hurt the woman, He did want the woman to know the truth. He told her to stop sinning and doing the wrong thing because she knew better. He told her that He wanted her to do the right thing and follow God because God loved her so much!

Just like the woman in this story, Jesus loves us even when we sin and do the wrong thing. He always forgives us if we ask Him to forgive us, and He always encourages us to do the right thing and follow God. We should always try our best to do the right thing and forgive others when they hurt us instead of trying to hurt them back.

• How can we try our best to forgive others? Is there somebody in your life that you need to forgive? Is there somebody that you need to ask to forgive you? How can you share God’s love with someone this week?
• Prayer: God, thank You for forgiving me when I do the wrong thing! Help me to trust You and listen to what You tell me so that I don’t continue to sin. I know that it hurts Your heart when I don’t listen to You, and I want to obey You always! Please help me to forgive others who have hurt me too, and remind them that I still love them just like You love me. I’m so grateful that You are always there to help me and to be with me, no matter what. I love you, God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.