Focus

Slow your breathing and become aware of the taking in and letting out of your breath. Focus on putting things aside so you will be open to what God is saying to you today.

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Read

Galatians 3:23-29 (NRSV)

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

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Reflect

Louisa Woosley felt God calling her to preach, but she she’d never heard of a woman preacher and didn’t think women should preach. She tried to ignore God, but that didn’t work. She hoped God would call her husband to preach instead, but that didn’t happen either. Finally, Louisa searched through the Bible and took note of every mention of women and ministry. She wanted to prove to herself that God didn’t call women to ministry. She found just the opposite: male and female being created equally in Genesis, Miriam the prophet in Exodus, Deborah the prophet and judge in Second Kings, women being the first to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection in the Gospels, and even Paul naming women as his equals in ministry and testifying to women prophesying in the Epistles. Louisa finally gave in to God’s call and ended up being an incredibly productive evangelist and pastor.

For Christians, belonging to Christ is our primary identifier—not gender, not economics, not ethnicity. Following Christ doesn’t take away our individuality, but it does reveal to us that all the limits, labels, and stereotypes the world places on us to separate us just don’t matter. Never allow cultural short-sightedness to overrule God’s call.

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Pray

Help me, God, to identify myself first and foremost as a Christian. Help me, and all in your Church, to ignore cultural limitations and see fellow Christians as brothers and sisters in ministry together. Amen.

Go with God.