April 4th Daily Devotional

April 4 (Friday – Studying/Learning)

• Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15 – Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
• Reflection: We are called — as people of faith, even if we are people who are questioning just what we believe — to live out our values. We model what we believe is just and correct for ourselves and others, as well as for creation. The choices we make, the words we speak, the actions we undertake are all forms of teaching by example.
  We also learn from those who have chosen such a path, and embody the integrity of their faith and values. They become our teachers.
  Our lives can become texts for both learning and teaching. We exemplify, at our best, what we believe and value. Of course, we fall short. We’re human, after all. God closes the gap for us. Yet we can shine as a light for others through the way we choose to live our lives. We become mentors, teachers, and guides.
  How do you live into your faith? How do you express it, show it, model it? Maybe it’s responding with kindness. Maybe it’s going the extra mile to help someone. Maybe it’s performing acts of service. Perhaps it’s giving consideration to those with whom you are in conflict or disagreement, and holding them in prayer, acknowledging their humanity despite your differences. Maybe it’s investing in causes you support. Maybe it’s being present to someone. Maybe it’s paying forward a good deed that has been offered to you, to another person. Maybe it’s digging into an issue, and learning more, and doing something about it.Maybe you teach your ethics and mores. Maybe you communicate them through your creative art or your vocation. Maybe they’re embedded within your pastimes or passions.
• Spiritual Practice Prompt: Identify one way that you interact with others during the course of a day: what actions are reflections of your values and beliefs?  What words and deeds reflect love at work in the world? And what do you see others doing, that aligns with and reinforces those same ideals and values? Whom do you learn from?

Song:

• The Truth by Megan Woods: https://youtu.be/5fSVWVYkh2A?si=p-ZacOM0EO8w0ZmN
• Living My Truth by Fearless Soul: https://youtu.be/fjB3kCRVcGs?si=ZTLFsLIdwgEzLn5x
• We Believe by the Newsboys: https://youtu.be/WjZ01FcK0yk?si=9DSUYTZvkz7ILFGD

• I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. – Ellen DeGeneres
• Values are like fingerprints. Nobodies are the same but you leave them all over everything you do.
  – Elvis Presley
• Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.
  – Mahatma Gandhi
• A mission statement is not something you write overnight but fundamentally your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life. – Stephen Covey