It has to begin with you and with me

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “The power of God in you and for you”

Our Bible verse for today: “God, create a clean heart in me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The place to start is with yourself”

Are you tired of all the evil in the world? Do you long for it to be cleaned up, banished, washed away, and replaced with kindness, goodness, and peace? Me too. But I would submit that the starting place for that is in your own heart (and in mine), rather than in the hearts and minds of everyone else.

Commonly we believe the problem is with everyone else. It’s the world that’s a mess! But in reality, it’s you and me – it’s us – we are a mess. The evil lurks in your heart and in mine and it has to be dealt with there, first, before we will be ready to turn our attention to what others may be doing wrong.

In Psalm 51:10 King David pleaded with God to “Create a clean heart in “me” Lord, renew a steadfast spirit in “me.” Start with me. Help me to get my heart right. Later I will pray for others to get right with you. At another time I will talk to them about what they should do. But for now, let’s focus on me. Let’s get me straightened out first.”

If you don’t deal with the evil within you, don’t expect God to deal with the evil around you. It starts with you, and with me.

As was noted in yesterday’s devotional, we live in an evil and angry society. Displays of outrage and acts of violence are a daily occurrence. And with every new outrage there is more shouting, more anger, more violence in return. It has become a self-perpetuating cycle that continues to escalate, and many Christians are caught up in it – they have become a part of it. There’s a lot of truth to the old adage, “We have encountered the enemy, and he is us.” Very often it’s the man or woman in the mirror who is the problem and therefore it needs to be the man or woman in the mirror who initiates the solution to the problem. Get your heart right first, then you can worry about what other people are or are not doing.

If we want God’s power applied in our lives and in our world we must first repent of our own sins. It’s only then that we can begin to become part of the solution.

It has to begin with you and with me. The place to start is with yourself.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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