Live in Grace, Walk In Love A 5-Day Devotional With Bob GoffSample

 THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES SHAPE US.

LISTEN TO THE ONE BEING NARRATED BY HOPE.

My worst subject in school was always . . . school.

I couldn’t focus in class and would fidget until the bell rang at the end of the day. I had an excuse for everything. Being late, not turning in homework, not coming to school at all.

I was terribly bored, so I became incredibly detached.

There was one teacher, though, who wasn’t so focused on having his students just memorize information so we could pass the test. Instead, he tried to get us excited by telling us the backstories hidden within history. He told us about the less likely things, the surprising turns and feelings behind the failures. He wove together a true-to-life picture of real people in real danger, not just facts about battles won or lost.

When cold facts were taught with threats of failure if we didn’t memorize the data, I usually failed.

Most of us don’t learn because we’re threatened or cajoled or shamed into it. But when stories were told about kind or compassionate or courageous people, setting an example for who we might become, I leaned in and my mind opened up. We’re all wired this way.

Jesus rarely spoke to anyone without telling them a story. The reason is simple. We accept the stories told to us with our faith, our life experience, and our hearts. Because well-told stories are so powerful in our lives, it’s not surprising when we realize the stories we tell ourselves have tremendous power to shape us.

If you tell yourself you’re a bad student, you’ll probably become one. If you convince yourself you don’t have enough time to help in the soup kitchen, you probably won’t. If you say to yourself you’re not fun to be around for long enough, you probably won’t be.

Listen to who God says you are and what He believes is possible in your life. Breathe in hope and breathe out your life. Be picky about listening to the stories you or others have been telling over your life that just aren’t true. You’ll know if it’s God telling the story because it will always be one filled with hope and possibility.

What story is God telling through your life this year?