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2. I LIVE APART FROM GOD

THOUGHT

Unfortunately, we do not experience this incredible love because we ignore God. We search everywhere for meaning, purpose and fulfillment – but not with God. We ignore him and don’t trust Him to want the best for us. Going our own way and the selfish actions that result from this lifestyle are what the Bible calls sin. Sin damages and destroys our relationship to God, to others and even to ourselves. Sin ultimately separates us from everything that God wants to give us; namely His love and a life with purpose – a life that goes beyond death.

QUOTE

“I, Mother Teresa, am a sinner. We are all sinners. And we all need God’s mercy.” Mother Teresa

EXAMPLE

A man was getting his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber was working, he talked to the man about everything under the sun. “I don’t believe that God exists!” declared the barber. “Why not?” asked the man. “If there was a God,” the barber replied, “there wouldn’t be so much sickness in the world, so much unhappiness, so much pain and suffering! If there was a God, he wouldn’t allow all this to happen!” The man didn’t answer. After a while, the hair was cut, the beard trimmed, and the bill paid. Back on the street the man saw an individual with long, dirty hair and an unkempt beard. He went back to the barber and said: “There are no barbers!” “What do you mean? I just cut your hair and trimmed your beard!” The man explained, “if you existed there wouldn’t be any people with long, dirty hair and unkempt beards. Do you see that man on the street? If you were a barber, you wouldn’t allow this to happen!” “Oh, come on! I exist! The people do have to come to my shop, though!” The man replied, “It’s the same with God. We must come to him to be healed, to be forgiven and for our relationship to him to be restored.”

QUESTIONS

Do you experience sorrow because you live apart from God? What do you regret most in your life?

PRAYER

“Dear God, I’m sorry that I don’t love you, others, or myself the way you want me to. Please help me change this. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and forgiving my efforts to manage life on my own.”