Two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes.

Perfect!

All is good in the maternity ward.

Or so it seemed…

When will the crying end?
Why do the ‘terrible twos’ last more than a year?
Why won’t they listen to me?
How did they become friends with ________?
Teenagers!

Sometimes they grow up,
but too many of them just get older.

(Sigh)

We’re not really cute, little bundles of joy underneath those chubby cheeks. That’s what the Apostle
Paul would tell us: 

As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

 Romans 3:10-18

I wish I could say these verses describe a small percentage of us in this world. I even feel like they do sometimes. But they include everyone. They include those cute, little ones who turn us to mush. They include the nurses who help bring those little ones into the world. They include our friends, our parents, our spouses, and even ourselves. “There is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:12b).

According to the Apostle Paul, we got off on the wrong two feet. We came into this world several steps behind. On top of that, we are told that we exist only by chance. We are taught that we need to fight to survive. We have confused the genders. We are empowered to walk away from marriages that don’t work for us. We rally against life and well-being. And we are encouraged to raise our voice because it is just as authoritative as anyone else’s, and even more authoritative than those who lead our municipalities and nations.

We try to rise above the ills of life. We’re told that we can be whatever we want to be – that everything we need is already inside us. They say we just need to focus and work hard. For many of us, this is not the case. Things don’t always work out. Life doesn’t always go our way.

Vision, resolve, and drive are great qualities, but they aren’t really the keys to becoming somebody. If they were, we’d have a few less tragedies.

I can’t tell you why some of us do bad things to others. I don’t understand why people walk away from their families and friendships. I can’t explain why there are bullies and killings and suicides. I can’t fathom the heart of someone who sells another person to various kinds of slavery. But I can say it is rooted in our very nature.

I can also say that God has the answers to the agony in our hearts (Matthew 5:4). He understands and He cares deeply (1 Peter 5:7).

Did you hear Letitia Wright (from Black Panther) as she accepted the BAFTA EE Rising Star Award last Saturday? She told us the truth: “God made [us] and [we’re] important… God loves [us],” she proclaimed as she stood with her award, a graven mask signifying the dramatic arts in film and television. This year’s BAFTA rising star didn’t wear a mask. She “let [her] light shine.”

God loves each of us, no matter how dark our hearts or deep our situations. On this Valentine’s Day, we can rest in His love and warm embrace. If you yearn for a meaningful relationship, look to God. If you want a friend you can trust with everything, open up to God. He’s listening. He’s ready to give you the gift of faith and the joy of life.

We don’t need to let the grip of despair or defeat drag us down. When we place our trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we will be free to live with our heads up and our strides surefooted. Jesus paid the penalty for our two wrong feet. We just need to accept His sacrifice to satisfy our debt, and follow Him with a new lease on life. This is not a prosperity gospel. This is a relationship with God that truly frees us from our darkness.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—
it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ
and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
in order that in the coming ages
he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:1-10

God is love. He is merciful and patient and He wants to welcome you into His family.

💗

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If you want to know more about God’s love and how to have a relationship with Him, please email me at authordlv@att.net. You may also want to read more about God’s gift of salvation here.

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