My son and his family spent the weekend at our house recently. He commented how having a child has brought him a deeper understanding of our relationship with God. I couldn’t agree more, and I remember my first glimpse of understanding along those lines.

It was my first year as a camp counselor and my first week with children in my charge. I’m the oldest of six children myself and I was excited to phone home and tell my mother all about the experience. In sharing about the exploits of my cabin group I said, “You can’t imagine what it’s like to be responsible for these kids day and night, seeing that they eat and get to bed and…” Suddenly I paused as it dawned on me who I was talking to and I sheepishly finished with, “…well maybe you can imagine.”

We are called children of God. And that means something. Actually it means far more then we can imagine. Even those of us who have children still only get a glimpse of what the pure love of our Heavenly Father looks like. And yet, much like I did with my mother in my youth, we approach God as if He doesn’t get it. As if He can’t imagine the trials and the struggles and the joys of whatever we happen to be experiencing in the moment. We rush to Him with news that isn’t really news at all to Him and think that we’re the first ones to discover whatever it is we’ve discovered.

And much like my mother during that long ago phone call, God listens patiently as we make our discoveries…perhaps with a little chuckle. And He loves us with an overwhelming love that we’ll never fully understand. Because we’re children…of His…because of the kind of love He has given us.

The above devotion was written/compiled from multiple sources by Tim Kurth, Mission and Ministry Advancement at Lutheran Church Charities.

Harboring bitterness will not change the other person, but it will sure change you – and not for the better! The heaviest thing you will ever carry is a grudge. It will make you sour and miserable to be around because your only desire will be to see the guilty party punished; especially when you or someone you love is the perceived victim. What happens is this: Fear and darkness enter the picture and convinces you it is okay to harbor resentment. After all, you are only ‘protecting yourself’ from getting hurt again, right? When that happens you dig in, justify your position and get comfortable living with resentment. That is – until it destroys you! The reason this says ‘look carefully,’ is because our bitterness has many sources: like an absentee or abusive parent we cannot forgive; a nasty divorce we keep reliving; the careless words of a friend who is not even aware of their effect; the boss who passed us up for a promotion. By harboring grudges we let bitterness live rent-free in our head!

What is the answer? Forgive before the problem becomes embedded in your emotions and starts feeding off your memories. Rehearsing old hurts drives them deeper until they take root and resist all attempts to weed them out. So Make a clean break…Forgive one another quickly. And the sooner you do it the better! Remember, there’s no emotion so deeply rooted that God’s grace cannot reach down and remove it. The question today is – are you ready to let Him help you?

Written by and used with permission from Tim Hetzner.

When a tragic accident left Will Mitchell with disfiguring burns he decided to focus on his possibilities, not his problems. Although he’d lost his fingers he learned to fly an aero plane solo. Then one day while flying from Colorado to California, ice caused his plane to crash. Paralyzed from the waist down (and you think you have got problems), Mitchell was understandably depressed about being confined to a wheelchair for life. Then a friend gave him the same advice he’d earlier given her: ‘It does not matter what happens to you. What matters is what you decide to do about it.’

So Mitchell adopted the Triple-A Formula. Accept what has happened, otherwise you live in denial, or open yourself to resentment and self-pity. Appreciate what you can learn from it. Built into every painful experience is the potential to be wiser, stronger and more effective. Adapt to the new opportunities it presents. It was darkness that drove Edison to keep searching until he discovered a source of light (and it can do that for you too). Since then Will Mitchell has held public office, found love, and given hundreds of talks. He says, ‘Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do, now there are 9,000. Should I focus on the 1,000 things I cannot do? No, I’d rather concentrate on the 9,000 ways in which life is still good.’ So, whatever we are facing today, it is not too big for God. It can be turned around through ‘His power that is at work within us.’

The above devotion was written/compiled from multiple sources by Tim Hetzner, President of Lutheran Church Charities and author of Word Among Us Bible Studies.

Without a ‘sane estimate’ of your capabilities as a leader, you set yourself up for trouble. So ask:

1. Am I a control freak? You empower others by being willing to relinquish power. That requires security; the kind that comes from knowing who you are before God. If you have one pencil and you think it is the only one you will ever have, you will hold on to it. But when you know you have dozens you can say, ‘Here, take what you need!’
2. Do I inspire loyalty? In the past people were loyal to you because you were the leader. Nowadays they will not be loyal to anybody they do not respect, and who does not respect them. They need to feel, ‘I’m a better person because of your leadership’
3. Am I willing to develop myself?  It takes time to accomplish anything of significance. But it is never too late to grow. Leaders who recognize the importance of their assignment, keep developing themselves
4. Am I passionate, or driven? There’s a difference. When you are driven, you seek other people’s approval by focusing strictly on the goal. When you are passionate, you relish the journey as much as the destination. Driven people burn out, passionate people do not

Can I accept my limitations? By acknowledging your limitations you encourage the same openness in others. John Maxwell says, ‘I no longer believe that the most spiritual people build the biggest churches or work the hardest. Fatigue is no indication of spiritual maturity …it just makes me vulnerable to sin and error.’

Written by and used with permission of Tim Hetzner

Some of us complain about everything. The weather’s too hot; the job’s too hard; the pay’s too low; the vacation’s too short. And what we think about our mother-in-law is not fit to print.

In an old Peanuts comic strip, Lucy announces, ‘Boy, do I feel crabby.’ Her little brother, Linus, always anxious to relieve tension, responds, ‘Maybe I can be of help. Why don’t you just take my place in front of the TV and I will go fix you a nice snack? Sometimes we all need a little pampering to make us feel better.’ Then Linus brings her a sandwich, a few chocolate chip cookies and some milk. ‘Now, is there anything else I can get you? Is there anything I have not thought of?’ he asks. ‘Yes, there’s one thing you have not thought of,’ Lucy answers. Then she shouts, ‘I do not want to feel better!’

Face it, some people do not want to feel better – they just want attention! Know anybody like that? It takes uncommon honesty to ask, ‘How much of what I say focuses on complaining about the situation rather than improving it? Have I built my life around people who feel the same way, and would probably be upset if I decided to grow and change for the better? Am I living in the past, nursing old wounds, refusing to forgive others and myself?’ Time does not heal – insight does! God said that knowing the truth sets us free. Once you are willing to face the truth about your attitude and do something about it, your life will begin to rapidly improve.