October 24, 2023 - Matthew‬ ‭6:24

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24 NLT

Lord, we recognize that we cannot follow you and yet go along with the beliefs of our culture or society. We can’t say, “Yes, you are our master”, but also say yes to other beliefs that don’t line up with your word. We have to say no to all other allegiances. We can’t please men and please you. It will pull us in two different directions. We cannot live for you in that place. There is no peace in that place. Just anxiety, confusion, and depression. Jesus, we must serve you and you alone. Serving anything else will eventually lead to us walking away from you. It is when we come to the decision that you and you alone are all we will serve - when we don’t care about the opinions of others and what culture says - that we will start to find the wholeness of who we really are in you.

Holy Spirit, please open our eyes to any false allegiances we have allowed in our lives. If we say “yes” to any other additional masters, our “yes” to you is worthless. Show us anything not of you that we have said yes to. We commit to saying, “yes” to you and you alone today. We commit to stand for your truth in a world that isn’t always accepting of your truth. You want us to be a light that stands out as different and draws people to you. Lord, help us to stand out as different in a loving way that does draw people to you. We don’t want to be a negative, condemning force that pushes people away from you. Teach us how to be bold and shine bright while loving. Show us how to love the sinner unconditionally while not accepting and condoning their sin and false belief. Holy Spirit, help us walk this balance like Jesus did.

In Jesus name, amen.