Devotionals

Reach Out to Yourself

by Deepika Emmanuel Sagar
07/11/21
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“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else…” (1Thessalonians 2:6 NIV)

Paul wrote this in his letter to the church at Thessalonica. It took spiritual candor, especially coming from a man who always sought to please God and not man in his ministry (1Thessalonians 2:4).

We all have a ministry to share. But it may not merely be reaching out to others.  It may also mean reaching out to ourselves through the ministry of God’s Word.  Because it’s often our ‘self’ that needs to be guided by grace and delivered from feelings of fear, anxiety, disappointment, shame, guilt and other negativity. 

Mankind’s fall from grace was complete in the Garden of Eden through one act of eating the forbidden fruit.  From that point on, human souls became prone to think negatively and to do evil. What they lost was immeasurable — effortless access to God’s spiritual rest.

As a result, here is the dilemma for believers:  Judging ourselves against God’s word is good only if it keeps us aligned to do what is pure and right.  But if we dwell on our failures and keep thinking negatively about ourselves, it only brings fear and condemnation — because we’re not fleeing to Jesus Christ for his mercy and forgiveness.  We lose our peace of mind because we are offended and disappointed in ourselves and bury these feelings, afraid if others knew how we felt, they would condemn us too! 

Faith recognizes when it has gotten its eyes off of the grace of God.  It recognizes when the soul is seeking human approval and running to prove it is better than the rest.  Faith understands this is not how the Spirit works but how the flesh works. Faith understands it is only the agape love of God in Christ that releases us from all condemnation, and fills with His security and assurance.

Reach out to yourself with the agape love of God in Christ, for it’s the Truth which shall set you free. (John 8:32 KJV)