I Begin by Loving, Monday, Advent Week 4

© Beth A. Richardson, betharichardson.com

Prayer

God, help me set aside my fear and my mistrust so that I can begin each interaction, each situation, in love. Amen.

Carry These Words in Your Heart Today

I begin by loving.

Today's Picture

I took this picture of a prayer net used in a worship service at a conference sponsored by The Upper Room. There are so many things that I need to give over to God to be able to reach a place of love. Fear, mistrust, busyness, the need for control — all can be surrendered, placed in God's care.

Question

What do you need to set aside so that you can freely love others?

Book of the Day

A Life of Total Prayer

Catherine of Siena

When I was a young adult, somehow I got my hands on a boxed set of Great Devotional Classics published by The Upper Room (1952). (In fact, it's still on my shelf.) The box was filled with 40-page booklets of writings by some of the great leaders in Christianity. Only thing was, the language was so archaic that I couldn't understand much of what it said. More recently, The Upper Room has published a new series of Spiritual Classics including this one — Writings of Catherine of Siena.  This book has gone out of print, but you might be able to locate a copy through Amazon.