by Jordy van Gaalen

Loving Deeply Within Our Circle of Influence

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 NIV

This verse reminds me not to miss what is right in front of me. How often do we think about the world or big picture problems and neglect the neighbors on either side of us? Are we missing a mission field or opportunities to love that are right in front of us? Are we focusing more on national or global issues and forgetting about the needs of our family? Of our community? 

Let us begin with love: Living our daily lives clothed in love with our eyes set on Heaven. 

God has given each of us a vocation and a purpose. God has placed people in our paths that help us grow closer to Him, people who we can be a light to, people that impact us as much as we impact them. There is something so valuable in being focused on the life God has led us into and through. We have work laid out for us. We have work right before us. We have been given a command to spread the Gospel. We have been given the title of “witness.” And we each have a unique way of carrying this out, in a way that God has ordained. We each have our own unique family, community, neighborhood, occupation. We each have our own circle of influence that we can pour into. Let’s love deeply and shine Jesus’ light into our individual circles of influence.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado