I am always amazed how God can speak through simple and familiar stories. I was reading in Mark’s gospel how at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue. (Mark 1:21-28)  It says the Jesus spoke harshly to the demon. I can’t help but believe that it was deep compassion for the man that Jesus chose to silence the unclean spirit. Love makes us do bold things.

While thinking about this passage, I felt God say to me, “Speak harshly to your demons, but kindly to yourself.” It’s not everyday that we are invited to speak into the lives of those around us, but we are well aware of the things that we struggle with personally.

It just might be me, but I often take my struggles personally. Instead of saying “I messed up,” I would say, “I’m a bad person.” This is not what Jesus sees or says. We can act loving to ourselves by being bold against the things that trip us up.

What does this look like? It is a step-by-step, day-at-a-time process. Choosing daily to turn toward Jesus, allowing his presence to give us the boldness to walk forward in the way he is showing us. We may need help in doing this, and that’s ok. Or, we might not. The main point here is to have the compassion for ourselves that Jesus does so that we move boldly toward the freedom that we know is found in Christ. We may just have to speak harshly to our demons.

Grace and peace,
Brook