We Are God’s Living Letters for All the World to Read
I received a letter the other day. Oh, it didn’t have a stamp in the right-hand corner or even a return address in the left. But I knew exactly where it came from and there was no doubt who had sent it. The letter was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, had brown shoulder length hair, and was sent by God. The postmark was evident.
Paul described Christians as living letters known and read by everybody. “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV).
The Message paraphrases 2 Corinthians 3:3 this way: Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone but carved into human lives—and we publish it.”
We are living letters.
And we publish it.
And others read it.
God has sent many love letters my way…hand delivered, special delivery, postage paid. Admittedly, some of the letters seem to have gotten marred in transit and I suspect a few of the words were not quite what the Author intended. But they were letters none-the-less.
There are some letters that I’ve received and wanted to mark RETURN TO SENDER across the top. I didn’t want the letter and honestly, I wasn’t sure where it came from. It couldn’t possibly be from God. The words were harsh and I suspected they were counterfeit. Not really from God at all…even though the letter said they were.
Then there are other letters I have received that were so beautifully scripted that I take them out and read them over and over again. They are treasures that I hold dear. I read them often, clutch them to my heart, and even place a kiss upon the seal from time to time. These are my favorite letters. They come in all shapes and sizes, but the return address is always evident, even if it has faded with years or rubbed off with wear. I love these letters.
God did not write His letters on fragile sheets of paper or on tablets of stone. He wrote His letters on human hearts for all the world to read.
Dear friend, here is a daunting thought. God has written His message on our hearts and mailed us out to a hungry and hurting world. People read His letters in our actions. They read His letters in our words.
What will others read in our letters today? Will they welcome the words like a soldier hungry for news from home or view them a junk mail to be tossed in the trash. Will they dread the words like a bill that needs to be paid, or will they see them as God intended… a love letter wooing them to Christ.
As Mother Teresa once said, “I’m just a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, Who is sending a love letter to the world.”
And friend, consider this my love letter to you today. You are loved more deeply than you’ll ever know. You are the apple of God’s eye, the masterpiece of His creation, the name engraved in the palm of His hand.
Heavenly Father, help my words be a letter that people want to read, filled with encouragement, love, and grace. I pray I will represent You well with my words and my ways. May the words of my mouth be a honeycomb to those who hear them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What is the name of one living letter that has blessed your life? Leave his/her name in the comment. Then consider forwarding them this devotion with a note letting them know how they have been a living love letter from God to you.
Digging Deeper
How are you doing in the words department? Need a little help taming the tongue and speaking life to those around you? The Power of a Woman’s Words: How the Words We Speak Shape the Lives of Others will help you become a woman that people want to be around!
Join me in overcoming the urge to speak negative words that push people away and become a wellspring of positive words that draws others in!
