Live in Confidence

You’ve learned by now that relationships change over time. People move away, we grow up and settle into our personalities, and sometimes we lose touch and drift apart. Other times harsh words or divisive actions fracture friendships, leaving them beyond repair.

Our relationship with God is different from our relationships with others because God will never break that relationship, no matter how many times we wrong Him. Paul described this relationship between God and those who follow Him in Romans 8:14-17.

As sons and daughters of God, our lives should be characterized by confidence, not fear. That flows from the fact that we’ve received the “Spirit of adoption.” Jewish children used the term Abba to mean “father.” The term expresses familiarity and points to the close relationship God wants to have with us. Adoption communicates the same intimacy; God chose to bring us into His family. By adopting us as His children, He made it a permanent, lasting relationship.

Adoption into God’s family doesn’t mean pain-free, worry-free existence. God has an agenda for us, but it’s for our good, and He shows us what to do during pain. Even strong, healthy human families weather hardships and suffering at times. So it will be for us as children of God. But we also have the promise of God’s power and of sharing in Jesus’ glory when He returns.

Here is the Web link for this week’s study.

• Video: “Some Thoughts on Weight and Body Image” from Jeremy Rochford