To put this Scripture in context, Jesus is responding to the question from the Pharisee, “Isn’t it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason.” For centuries, people have used this passage to condemn people who have been divorced. Such an interpretation, I believe, violates a more important command to love your neighbor.

I experienced divorce about 50 years ago. I had recently moved to Tennessee and had no family here besides my wife and three-year-old daughter. I became legally separated from my wife six months after moving to Tennessee.

I absorbed myself in my work and church. My church and close neighbors were very welcoming and accepting of me in my new status of being single. Due to irreconcilable differences, I was divorced several months later. Years ago, some churches were not accepting of divorced people. Later, they became more sensitive to the spiritual and emotional needs of divorced persons. Some even held gatherings or support groups for persons experiencing divorce.

From my own experience, I would encourage couples to do all they can to save their marriage, especially where children are involved. But I realize that some marriages simply cannot be saved. As a church and individual Christians, we need to support and nurture as appropriate people we know who are experiencing divorce.

How do we do that? I suggest praying for them. I would also suggest sending them a card and let them know you are praying for them and hope that they can have some peace and relief of their situation. Many families have been touched by divorce. My wife and I both were divorced, and we just celebrated our fourty-eighth anniversary. In those stituations where we know of a divorce, we need to do “what Jesus would do.”

Dear God, help us as individuals and as a church to be more caring and sensitive of those struggling to hold their family together and those experiencing divorce. Amen.

This devotional was written by Emmit Rawls and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Genealogies are found throughout the Bible, and I have found them to be both informative and interesting reading. In a sense they provide a legitimacy to the stories of God’s chosen people because we see the growth of the family tree from Adam all the way to Jesus. Along the way, the authors would occasionally interrupt the list of names to provide small details about particular individuals not unlike details you might have heard about one of your distant relatives.

I am fortunate to have a family genealogy that was traced back to the year 1280. The large parchment sheet does not just list names but also has small notes about people with titles like Earl of Worchester or Secretary to King Henry VII. One person had a note that they had the family Bible.

I think it fitting that the early chapters of Genesis put a priority on genealogy with an emphasis as we see in today’s scripture that God created both man and woman in God’s image. I have two photos that I really enjoy, one is me with three of my father’s brothers…I look just like them. The second photo is me with two of my mother’s brothers…I look just like them. Clearly, I was created in the image of my parents.

When I read God created man in His image, it gives me a comfort to know that this was one of the first acts of love by God and sets the stage for God desiring a relationship with us, His children. This is seen in the portion of scripture that reads, “He created them male and female and blessed them.” Regardless of our current family dynamics, we should draw comfort knowing that our family tree traces all the way back to Adam and Eve, created by God, in the image of God, and blessed by God. You have a part in that as well.

Will you join with me in prayer? Father, God, thank you for creating each of us in your image. Strengthen and nurture us as a loving Father who desires nothing more than a relationship. Open our eyes that your desire for relationship also extends to all those around us. It is in your name, God, that we pray. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Owen Ragland.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

More than 25 years ago, my dear friend’s son was born with a serious heart defect requiring multiple open-heart surgeries. I will never forget visiting them when he was just a toddler. At bedtime, I watched her dress him in his pajamas and tuck him in for the night. As she settled him in his bed, she took her finger and lovingly traced the long scar on his chest as she said these words, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

I picture that tender moment every time I hear this verse. Knowing that we are made in God’s image, I think, is not so much about us trying to identify with God as it is about the realization that God identifies with us. We have the assurance that God knows our hearts—literally and figuratively. God knows our strengths and weaknesses, our greatest hopes and deepest fears. God knows all of our thoughts and our feelings. God knows where we are broken and where we are whole. God knit us together, and God knows all of it.

Beloved, God knows your scars more intimately than you do, and they are precious to Him.

Today, can you picture God tracing those scars, visible and invisible, with God’s own hand and saying to you, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made?”

Creator God, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. When I feel overcome by the awareness of my flaws, remind me that you see beauty where I see scars. Help me believe that you lovingly knit me together and that your works are wonderful. May I bring glory to your name. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.