Unashamed Reading Plan
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 13 | Day 4
Prayer
Share with God how He has been a blessing to you. Thank Him for one attribute of His and offer this day to Him and how He might lead you.
Bible Reading: Romans 12:14-16
Read these verses three times slowly.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Reflection & Questions
By Heather Mahoney
To bless people is to ask God to send them His favor, to give them peace and prosper them.
Think of someone who has made life unpleasant for you. A hard teacher, a boss who’s impossible to please, a constantly dissatisfied friend or neighbor.
Am I supposed to pray for God’s blessing in their lives?
Impossible, unless we’ve surrendered our life to Christ, and we’re being transformed by Him. We have to trust God to guide us as we pursue His will for our lives rather than our natural, sinful desires.
God can use our willingness to bless those who wrong us to draw them to Him and transform their lives.
- Who in your life can you be praying for rather than complaining about? What’s one way you can be a blessing to someone else today?
Prayer
Ask God to bring to mind who you can be a blessing to today. Ask Him to guide your day and your thoughts.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 12:14-16
Read these verses three times slowly.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Reflection & Questions
The first sentence of today’s verses is a HARD one! To bless someone means to ask God to send them good things, to give them peace, and to help them succeed. But Paul is telling us to do that even when we feel like persecuting or cursing that person!
Think about someone who has made life difficult for you. Maybe it’s a classmate who always picks on you. Or someone you ride the bus with who is just plain mean. Maybe it’s a teacher who is just not fair. Those are the people you are supposed to ask for blessing on?! That’s practically impossible, right? But not with God. When we have God in our hearts, He can transform us on the inside so that we trust Him to show us the right thing to do, even when it is difficult.
You never know: maybe the way you treat them and the blessing that God gives them will transform THEIR lives too!
- Who in your life can you be praying for instead of complaining about?
Pray
Ask God to show you who you can be a blessing to this week. Ask Him to guide your day and your thoughts.
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
