TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11
Read: 1 Peter 2:11
Listen: 1 Peter 2
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Peter interestingly begins his encouragement for a counter-cultural sexuality practice by calling his readers “friends, foreigners and exiles.” It can be easy to skim over this, but it seems important to Peter. Peter points to two important truths: (1) who they are and (2) where they are. Despite their sin and brokenness, Jesus died for and adopted them. They are God’s deeply-loved children and have nothing to prove. Additionally, they are foreigners whose true allegiance is not to the Roman government but to the Kingdom of God.
The same is true for us too. To pursue counter-cultural sexuality, we need to recognize these same truths. Despite our sinfulness and brokenness, Jesus died for us. If we have chosen to follow Christ, we are God’s beloved children with nothing to prove. Being a Jesus-follower means our primary allegiance is with God above all.
Chances are many of us struggle with one or both truths. We might need to work on believing we are God’s beloved child, and as such our gratitude and love for God drives us to live as he calls us to. Maybe we need to hear that as Jesus-followers, we are foreigners but not alone. Our lives SHOULD look different as we participate in a community of believers God is using to transform the world.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Listen to the song, “Hope of the Ages.” The lyrics describe the great hope of the world is Jesus Christ, at work in our world building the church and calling people to him. May this song remind us of who we are, where we are and the hope we have in Christ.
2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.
January is BIBLE READING. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
