Pause

It's easy to believe that the world is broken, because we see brokenness all around us. We sometimes feel that same brokenness inside ourselves.

But the same God who sent Jesus to change the world is not done with Christ's work. At the deepest level of who God is, God intends for the brokenness to be healed, for reconciliation to take place.

In these next moments, open yourself to the brokenness you know, and remain open for the healing that God offers.

Listen

"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven."

Matthew 6:1

Think

I was walking through the campus of a large university to get lunch with some students. On the sidewalk in the commons, I walked past a street preacher who was shouting about how we were all damned to go to hell. My first reaction was to laugh. Then I became sad for this individual who was so clearly angry, and was letting that energy drive him and his view of God. God is not about shouting threats of hell, but about relationship.

Our relationship with God, our piety (meaning religious devotion or devout acts) is about you and God, and it’s about love. Our piety, how we relate to God, is as individual as each of us. It is destructive to show off and compare our devotion to God to others’ because it takes away from centering ourselves on God’s love for us. How are you practicing your devotion to God today? How are you reminding yourself of God’s love for you?

Shannon Kelly

Pray

God, our Creator, who has shown us the way to pray, be with me as I once again devote myself to you. Remind me that, just like Jesus, I must take time away to be with you and focus on the love you have for me. Guide me through my time spent with you, that I might come to know you in a new way. Amen.

Go

Move now into the broken world.
Travel with an intense determination
To find your way into healing,
To take the message of reconciliation
With you,
Within you,

For everyone.