by Desiree Bustamante

We are uniquely created to encourage each other.

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

After a season enduring frost, heat, severe storms and hungry wildlife, many gardens are finally producing their harvest. This bounty of tomatoes and peppers will be mixed together to make some tasty salsa. Even though tomatoes and peppers have unique shapes, distinct seeds and color shades they are still from the same tomato and pepper families. Yet their taste is enhanced by each other.

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 15:4-6 New International Version

After a tumultuous season, many of us have experienced spiritual growth and an even stronger reliance on Christ. He’s seen us through every twist and turn and has given us strength and resilience we couldn’t possess without Him by our side.

No matter what else is thrown at us in the weeks or months to come, we are all living this life together. Though uniquely created, we are all parts of the human family. God gave us each other as a precious gift. We may have taken that for granted until recently, but we need each other. I need your strengths, your faith and your prayers to help me stay strong and courageous. In turn, God uses my strengths and prayers to encourage others to pursue a closer relationship with Him. We are all individuals yet as His family we can produce a harvest of fruit that will be blessed by God to nurture those in faith and draw in those who need His unconditional love.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado