A New Creation

Photo credit: Free-images.com

They say that change is constant. 

A caterpillar being transformed into a butterfly is the epitome of change. It’s good to keep in mind, though, that this change doesn’t come easily and it doesn’t happen overnight. The caterpillar eats voraciously, and nearly continuously, to grow strong. After she builds her chrysalis and is transformed into a butterfly inside it, she has to work to emerge from it. Her struggle to break through the hard shell is necessary for her to develop strong, healthy wings. Some people have tried to ‘help’ butterflies emerge, but this actually harms them: The caterpillar’s and butterfly’s respective work is what lets her reach her ultimate goal. In all stages of the butterfly’s development, there’s no stagnation. There’s constant work and constant change. 

The same is true for us in our spiritual life. We’ll become stronger in our faith when we resist stagnation – when we work at our spiritual growth and ask God to work with us. We’ll grow stronger in our faith by learning, through prayer and experience, how God wants us to express that faith. We’ll discover how we can show our love for God and for our neighbor with our personalities and talents and all the other resources He’s given us. What God asks of us may very well change with the seasons of our life. As we mature and as our faith grows stronger, we’ll learn to follow God’s promptings and change as He guides us to. And over time, we’ll be transformed – we’ll live with and for Christ more and more. We’ll become kinder, wiser, more patient, more generous, more compassionate, more charitable, more forgiving, more loving, and more prayerful. We’ll become more and more focused on God and less on ourselves. We’ll become more like Him.

To let our Lord accomplish all of this in us, we have to be open to change; we have to allow ourselves to be changed by the One Who created us. To become more like God, we have to become a new creation – we have to become the people He created us to be.

This doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen without effort on our part. So, let’s ask our Lord for the grace to open our hearts to Him, and to help us see how He wants us to change. Let’s ask Him to help us identify and abandon our old, stagnant ways. Let’s ask Him to draw us closer to Himself and to help us take advantage of opportunities to spend more time with Him during our day. Let’s ask Him to show us how we might find new ways to show His love to the people in our family and in our community. 

Let’s ask God for the courage to let Him transform us into the people He created us to be.

“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation...” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Let everything I do be with You, for You, and because of You.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below.  Comments are always welcome! 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. 

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Love Your Enemies

Photo credit: Free-images.com

It was 1976 when singer/songwriter James Taylor first sang to us, “Shower the people you love with love.” This uplifting song is a good reminder to not take our loved ones for granted. Christ would tell us, though, to take our love to a higher level – to ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ 

The kind of love Christ commands us to offer to others is selfless and compassionate. This love wants what is good for the other person, while expecting nothing in return. There is no ulterior motive; we have nothing to gain from their good fortune. This kind of love involves praying not only for the well-being of those we love, but praying also for the well-being of our ‘enemies’ – those who, for example, have caused us some kind of pain or who antagonize us. This isn’t easy to do on our own, but we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). And so we love the nosy neighbor, the people who attack us for our political views, and the narrow-minded coworker who belittles us. 

We love and pray for our enemies, in part, because doing so cracks open the door of our heart to Christ’s grace and makes us more compassionate toward them. In other words, praying for them changes us – we move closer to Christ and become more like Him. Also, when we love our enemies, they may see the love God has for them through our actions – and that might change their heart, too.

Let me clarify that loving our enemies does not mean putting ourselves in harm’s way. In some cases, we may have to distance ourselves from certain individuals to protect ourselves physically, mentally, or emotionally. Some relationships are beyond repair, but we can still love the other person – we can still want what is good for them and pray for them instead of cursing them. 

Lent gives us the opportunity to strengthen our resolve to love not only those who love us but to love our enemies as well, and to grow closer to Christ by doing so. If you’re longing for a closer relationship with Christ and are feeling spiritually stagnant, consider participating in a Lenten church service such as the Stations of the Cross, or look online for a Lenten speaker series. These may give you a deeper understanding of Christ’s love for you and strengthen you to go out of your comfort zone – to shower love not only on those who love you, but on all you come in contact with. 

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

– Matthew 5:44 

Open my eyes, that I may see You. Open my ears, that I may hear You. Open my heart, that I may love You in the people around me.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Comments are always welcome! Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. 

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Inspired to Love

Photo credit:  Free-images.com

Think of a time, maybe when you were in school, when you felt inadequate or unacceptable to some degree. Maybe you had made a mistake and were ridiculed for it. And then, someone – maybe a teacher or a coach – said a kind word to you that made you feel forgiven and accepted, and not condemned. This kindness inspired you to try harder or to make amends for your mistake.  

That teacher or coach was imitating Christ, whether they intended to or not. By offering kindness to you, by not berating you for whatever you had done, and by inspiring you to do better, they did for you what Christ has done, and still does, for so many.

In Jesus’ day, the rabbis and religious leaders looked with contempt on those who were not as ‘blessed’ or ‘holy’ as they thought themselves to be. Whereas these leaders associated only with people like themselves, Jesus hung around with everyone else, including tax collectors and ‘sinners.’ Regardless of their past transgressions, He showed them that they were worthy of His love. He welcomed them and offered them acceptance and love. He gave them dignity. He didn’t accept them so that they could justify their sinful behavior; He loved them so much that they were inspired to abandon their hurtful ways and do their best to live the way of love He was teaching.

We are all loved by God; we’re also sinners. We all make choices – in our thoughts and in our words, in what we do or fail to do – that hurt ourselves or others, or that put a wedge in our relationship with God. Christ came to show us not only that He doesn’t condemn us, but that His way is the better way. He challenges us to ask His forgiveness and then abandon whatever it is that is unloving. He invites us to trust Him that we’ll be happier if we do our best to imitate Him. Part of being a mature Christian is acknowledging our need for God’s mercy and grace to strengthen us against the temptation to sin. We need Him, the Physician, to heal and empower us. 

No matter what we’ve done, Christ welcomes us to Himself. When we believe His promise that we’re worthy of His love and forgiveness, we’ll be strengthened to abandon our old, hurtful ways and follow His way instead. We turn to Him for forgiveness, and then separate ourselves from whatever or whoever has caused us to sin. Confident in His love, we more readily offer kindness and compassion to others so that they, too, become inspired to love and live His way. This is how we build the Kingdom of God.

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” – Mark 2:17

“Lord, thank You for loving, forgiving, and empowering me.”

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Comments are always welcome! Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature, nor do I receive any kind of payment for my writings. I depend on you, the readers, to share my reflections with your friends. Thank you!

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Who's My Neighbor?

We see them day after day on the same street corners, holding their cardboard signs asking for help. How do you respond? 

Would you respond differently if you saw Jesus Himself standing there?

Maybe we can’t give to all of them every time we see them. Is that our excuse for not giving to them at all?

Maybe the problem lies in our use of the word ‘them’: We distance ourselves from them.

Consider the Good Samaritan, who cared for his neighbor when others wouldn’t (see Luke 10:30-37). The story reminds us that God shows love, mercy, and compassion to everyone without exception. 

Who’s our neighbor? Everyone, because Christ lives in everyone. We are all children of God. Do you accept that fact? Everyone – including those who don’t live, look, dress, speak, act, pray, believe, learn, or love like you do. 

If we claim to follow Him, we’ll love and show compassion to all people, in concrete ways – in both our words and actions. 

Maybe you justify not giving by thinking, “I worked hard to get to where I am. Why didn’t they?”

Maybe you had opportunities, and they didn’t.

Maybe you had loving parents, and they didn’t.

Maybe you had plenty of food in your home, and they didn’t.

Maybe you attended a safe school that enabled you to thrive, and they didn’t.

Maybe they had a catastrophic and expensive illness or injury, and you didn’t.

Maybe their poor choices landed them in prison, and yours didn’t. Or you got bailed out, and they didn’t.

Christ is merciful to you. Be merciful to your neighbor.

We can’t know everything about a person’s life, the challenges they’ve faced, the hurdles they’ve overcome. When we see a person asking for help, we have to see first and foremost a person – not a label, and not only the sign they’re holding. See a beloved son, daughter, or friend. See a person with hopes and dreams. See a person whose military experiences left them with nightmares we can’t begin to imagine, someone who’s doing their best to get through another day. 

Love is an action verb. Start with one person. Here are examples of what some people give to those on the corners:

Some give cash.

Some give gift cards to nearby eateries.

Some give prepackaged items like nuts, granola bars, or fruit.

Some give meals purchased at nearby fast-food places.

Some give winter hats, gloves, or socks.

If you’ve thought of giving to a food bank, shelter, or soup kitchen instead of to the people on the street, have you followed through with your good intentions?

When you give, you give hope.

Give without judging. Give with a smile.

Give to your neighbor.

“‘Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?’ He answered, ‘The one who treated him with mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” – Luke 10:36-37

“Lord, help me see You and love You in everyone.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Also, if you’re able to help the people of Maui, here are a few organizations that are accepting donations:

The Hawaii Community Foundation 

The American Red Cross

The Maui Food Bank

You Never Know

Even from a distance in the checkout line I could hear the commotion. Walking toward the exit, I saw a woman near the doorway waving her arms and shouting at an employee, her language venomous. Her partner stood at her side, neither encouraging nor discouraging her rampage.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” – Plato

They say that ‘hurt people hurt people’ and that anger is a response to other emotions. Who knows? Maybe that woman had just received some bad news and was hurting inside. Maybe what she was really expressing was fear, or frustration, or helplessness over an unrelated situation. Or, perhaps the employee actually was at fault and the customer had never been taught how to handle or express her emotions. Maybe that wouldn’t excuse her behavior -- but it could explain it.

The lesson of ‘be considerate and don’t criticize because we usually don’t know where someone is coming from’ hit home to me soon after my mom passed away nearly 25 years ago. I was in a grocery store and caught my reflection in a window. It startled me: my face looked angry and mean. I felt sad, not mad, yet anyone looking at me wouldn’t have known that.

When we consider these and other possibilities, we let go of our pride and critical mindset and become more understanding and sympathetic.

Putting ourselves in other people’s shoes helps us to be patient. Have you ever had to rush to the hospital? The car speeding past you might be headed there, too – you never know. The greatest thing to do is ask our Lord to bless them.

You’re trying to be and do your best. Sometimes life’s challenges affect your words and actions; the same is true for all of us. We never know what someone may be going through. Trying to maintain an attitude of kindness will keep open the door to peace, in ourselves and those around us.

“Love is patient, love is kind… love never fails.” --1 Corinthians 13:4, 8

 

Feel free to share my reflections with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below.  Thanks!

 

God Doesn't Give Up

 

Imagine driving across the country on a highway with no roadblocks, no detours, and even no attractive exits along the way. Imagine nothing but a straight path, free of challenges and anything that would distract you from reaching your destination.

Sometimes we want life to be like that: we want God to make our journey easy. He knows better than we do, though, and in His wisdom He lets us choose which routes to follow and which exits to take. Over the past 10, 30 or 50 years you probably chose routes that brought you closer to Him and maybe took exits that led you far away from Him. You may even be lost right now. No matter where you are, God sees your potential. He invites you to turn toward Him and let Him pour His grace on you. He will never give up on you because He knows you’re still on your journey.   

Imagine what would have happened if Jesus had said to Zacchaeus, “You’re a liar and a cheat. I doubt anyone would hire you, but go get a decent job and then come back. Maybe I’ll let you hang out with Me.” Instead, Jesus first loved him. He saw the longing in his heart and offered him an opportunity to follow Him. The love and peace that radiated from Jesus caused Zacchaeus to quit his job on the spot, take Jesus up on His invitation, and offer to pay back fourfold anyone he had cheated. Jesus loved him despite his dishonest work and then Zacchaeus turned his life around.

God does the same with us. He doesn’t say, “Get your act together and then I’ll love you.” Instead, He loves us first. He loves us now. He knows we have the potential to become more like Him and never gives up on us. He gives us opportunities to turn toward Him through our circumstances, the people we encounter, and the sacraments. He continually invites us to follow His way of gentleness, kindness, compassion, and patience which will bring us the joy we so desperately long for.

God offers His love and mercy to us no matter where we are. In turn, we’re called to offer these to our ‘travel companions’ and invite them to follow Him. We don’t know all the roadblocks they’ve encountered, and maybe they’ve taken exits we’re unfamiliar with. That’s not our business. What matters is that we’re all on this journey together and, as He won’t give up on us, we can’t give up on each other. Let’s ask God to guide all of us on our journey and lead us closer to Him.

 “Lord, thank You for not giving up on me.”

If you like reading these reflections, please tell your friends and “follow" my blog. To do this, click on the following link:  -> https://www.blogger.com/manage-blogs-following.g

Click "Add" and type in my blog URL: intoflame.blogspot.com

Select your preference and click "follow." Thanks!