Scripture: Luke 11:42-46
Journal: What are your woes these days?
What things in your life cause God woe?
What do you neglect? What does
God want to say to you about those things?
What does it look like to prepare your heart, during this Advent season,
for his coming?
Reflection:
Woe to you, my child, when you despise
something that I have created good and beautiful—yourself. Woe to you when you allow self-contempt to
determine the way you live your life, as well as determining who and how you
love. Woe to you when you live out of
shame rather than belonging, out of fear rather than love. Woe to you when you try to manufacture and
create an identity that can only be bestowed and received. Woe to you when you seek the affirmation and
affection of people, and neglect the affirmation and affection of God. Woe to you when you are not satisfied with my
love.
Woe to you when you are
prayerless, and thus start to believe you can actually can do life on your
own. Woe to you when you stop listening
to me, and instead choose your own will and your own direction in my name. Woe to you when your life becomes more about
you than it is about me. Woe to you when
you would rather be noticed than go unnoticed, when you would rather be
something than be nothing, when you would rather be more than less. Woe to you when you become demanding,
entitled, and manipulative, rather than setting aside your privileges, emptying
yourself, and taking the nature of a servant.
Woe to you when you are filled with comparison, competition, and
criticism, rather than grace, mercy, and compassion. Woe to you when you look more like the world
than you do like your Savior.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: Lord God, help me to never live in such a way
as to cause you woe. But give me the
strength and the courage to live according to your greatest hopes and dreams
for me. Amen.
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