February 11, 2022 - 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

“For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 NLT

Jesus, we are grateful that you sacrificed your life for us. Thank you for making a way for us to spend eternity with you. You’re a true spotless lamb sacrifice, whose pure blood covered and washed away our sins once and for all. You are so worthy of all our praises. You made a way for us to enter the throne room. You made a way for us to be in a right relationship with you. You adopted us into your family. We praise you for your saving power and for calling us your own.

Lord, help us to always do our best to honor you for the sacrifice you made on our behalf. We want our lives to bring you glory in all that we do. Open our eyes to things in our lives that don’t bringing you glory. Help us uproot those things and change them into glorifying actions. Increase our desire to please you so that it is greater than our desire to please our flesh. Help our love for you and others to increase to the place it overpowers our selfishness. Let us be willing to lay our lives down for your and others the way you laid yours down for us.

Holy Spirit, show us how to live a life that encourages others. Give us courage to boldly represent you and stand up for righteousness in a loving and honoring way. We want to lovingly inspire others towards righteousness and not use condemnation. Open our eyes to any place that we are using guilt, condemnation, or manipulation to push people into walking in your ways. Lord, we know that this will only cause more damage than good. We want to build people up and not tear them down. Teach us to love others the way you love us.

In Jesus name, amen.