“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…’”
-John 8:31

We want Jesus to be our Savior. We want him to save us from sickness, poverty, broken relationships. But often we don’t want him to be our Lord, to come in to the temple of our hearts and deal with the painful, hard, difficult things in our lives.

As believers, as time goes on, we begin to ignore the fact that Jesus asked us to not be angry people but to be honest people and to love our enemies. He asked us not to do religious things for a reward. He asked us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, and not to judge people and shove religion down people’s throats. Some of these things, as disciples, we don’t want to do.

But we cannot change Jesus. He can only change us. And, if Jesus changes us, we might be an answer to someone else’s prayer. We don’t think very often about the way our actions, attitudes, even emotions affect those who live with us and work with us and do life with us. We usually only think about how we feel.

We need Jesus to be our Savior AND our Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for saving my soul. As my Savior and my Lord, please grow me and guide me to become all you designed me to be. Help me help others. Amen.

Reflection: Do you consider Jesus to be your Savior? Your Lord?