January 12, 2023
Loved | John 4:1-26
WHEN LIFE IS SHAME AND MORE SHAME
All of us want people to see us at our best. That’s why we shower, shave or put on makeup, and don’t eat tuna just before a big meeting. We assume (probably accurately) that people like us better that way. We also hope God sees us on our good days and foolishly hope he’s looking the other way when we’re at our worst. We are silly, aren’t we?
God doesn’t “love us as we are”—that’s a lazy distortion. He doesn’t love us for what we will become—that dangles love in front of us like a carrot on a string. He loves us, period. And that love insists on making us new creations.
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John 4:1-26
- Tell of a time someone caught you at your worst. How did they handle it? How did you handle it?
- Why did Jesus raise the issue of the 5 husbands, didn’t he know that would hurt her?
- What do you think it means to worship God “in spirit and in truth”? Give some specific examples of that in your life.
- What does it mean to you that Jesus chose to reveal, for the first time ever, that he is the Messiah to a Samaritan woman with a shameful past?
- Is there anything shameful in your life that Jesus is calling you out of? (I know, pretty risky question, God give you courage!)
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