Thursday October 26, 2023

Today is Thursday, October 26 and we are learning what the Bible says about bearing with others.

As I begin this time of prayer, I pause and become still. I quiet my mind, slow my breath and open my heart to the presence of the God who loves me.

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord, thank you for the community of faithful followers I have found in my church home. I am grateful for valuable relationships that strengthen my steps and nourish my faith. Show me what it means to live life together and bear with one another in love. Amen.

I worship God and praise him with the ancient words of Psalm 95.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice. Psalm 95:6-7

Pause and Pray

In his first letter, Peter considers how we are to live together in Christian community. He particularly addresses how to live a Godly life surrounded by a pagan culture like the one in which his young church was living. He encourages them to love the family of believers. He addresses how wives and husbands, masters and servants, and entire households should treat each other. He extends his teaching beyond the household of faith to the treatment we might receive from those who are not followers of Christ and compares our response to Christ’s sacrifice and suffering.

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:23-25

Peter invites me to consider when I have suffered an insult or injustice. Did I respond with threats, revenge, or retaliation? Or did I respond with love? This text invites me to entrust myself to God when I am unfairly treated. Jesus bore my sins in his body on the cross. Because of his shed blood I die to sin and live for righteousness. His wounds have provided me healing and salvation. Once I was lost but now, I have been found by the Good Shepherd who forever watches over my soul.

Ask: How does Christ’s suffering for me inform my need to bear with the failings of others? How might my response to difficult people witness to the love of Christ in this world?

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus. I entrust myself to you – body, mind and soul. You know everything about me. You see the truth of my circumstances and the reality of my relationships. Thank you for loving me so much that you bore my sins in your body on the cross. You are the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul and I trust you to watch over me. Teach me to love others as you have loved. I read the words from 1 Peter again and listen for the message you have for me.

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:23-25

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

There are many competing images in this brief text from Peter. The image of a Savior suffering, the image of a wounded soul restored, the image of a sheep lost and an image of a Shepherd guarding. What image most informs my current circumstances? Maybe I am the lost or maybe I am the found. Maybe I am the weak or maybe I am the strong. I consider how Christ has born so much for me and how I am now to bear much for others in response. I name the difficult people in my life who I might need to “bear with” a little longer. Jesus is the one who can help me with this – granting me kindness, patience, forbearance, perseverance and love.

Pause and Pray

Lord Jesus, you left the ninety nine to go and find the one. Thank you for not giving up on me when I was wayward and stubborn. Give me patience to not give up on others, but bear with them in the spirit of love and forgiveness. Bless all my relationships, heal what is broken, mend what is torn and restore what is lacking. Show me what it means to carry others as you have carried me. Amen.

The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. Deuteronomy 1:30-31

I leave this time of prayer carried by the love of God, I go to carry the griefs and bear the burdens of others.

Amen