Living Thanks

Welcome to the first day of Broken and Blessed. It is my hope to share a short devotional thought as time, children, and life as a pastor's wife allows me. I hope that as I share how God has blessed, encouraged, forgiven, restored, and in all LOVED me, you will be encouraged as well. Sometimes we think we're all alone on this journey, but we're not. May this humble attempt at a devotional blog remind you of that.

 I John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."

Many of you. like me, have posted daily reasons for thanks on Facebook or other social media sites. It's been inspiring to read the many unique ways God has blessed so many of my dear friends and family. It is a good thing to pause and remember and celebrate all we've been given in this life.

 I've been challenged this last week to thank God for who He is and how that translates in my life as His follower. Let me preface by saying I have been reading an interesting book that calls its readers to return to a simpler life. A life that puts people on a higher level than possessions. A life that puts the eternal above the temporal. I've gleaned some good insights from this book, but there is one thing that it also has been leaving me with. Guilt. Why? Because the book focuses heavily on the thought that because we have so much and the world has so little, our duty is to to get rid of excess and give to those who are lacking. Yes, that's a good thing. But guilt never serves as a good motivator. Why? Because we never measure up, we can never do enough. It tires us, defeats us, wears us out. So what is the best motivator for us to give thanks? The Love that God poured out to us in His Son. That love and forgiveness was not earned, it was freely given. When we really stop, consider, and live in the receiving of Christ's death for our sins, our natural life's reaction will be that of a living thank you letter. Loving others, thanking others, blessing others, no longer becomes a task, or chore to mark off of our lists, but a natural, vibrant, never-run-dry lifestyle. We can truly love others. Not in ourselves, but because of His love inhabiting in us and overflowing to the world.

Thanking Him together with you for who HE is and all HE has done,

 Sarah