Near the end of the first chapter of Genesis we can read the following:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NIV)
This past week our attention has been drawn to the five tragic and fatal
shootings of police officers in Dallas, Texas. My heart and prayers go out the
families and the greater community of Dallas for what they are experiencing.
Before my pastoral prayer one week ago you heard me make the following
statement: “Black lives matter, white lives matter, native American lives
matter, Hispanic lives matter, Oriental lives matter, LGBT lives matter,
Christians matter, Muslims matter, and I could go on and on.”
My dear people, all of us are beloved children of God. In some of my
recent devotional reading, I have had to think about self, more than I
probably wanted to. I invite you to try this experiment of self-love. Stand in
front of mirror and give yourself a warm and sacred hug.
Remind yourselves of Genesis 1:27. We are created in the image of
God. No, there may be parts of us that we don’t like to see—our angry
selves, our selfish selves, our hateful selves. You have the chance each and
every day to turn it all over to God and that’s all that it really takes.
Your surrender become key and critical words.
