Day 1: Love

"I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this." Psalms 139:14

Reflection:

When I think of love, and especially love as it relates to the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible, I always think that we ourselves are taught how to love others. We're taught how to be nice to other people. We are taught how to be compassionate, to be compassionate friends, to be dedicated partners, to be great sisters and mothers. We're taught to respect other people, to be great stewards of our land and our world, but nowhere do I feel that we are taught on a daily basis the practical ways in which we can love ourselves. That must be the foundation for all the love that we give to other people. One of my favorite quotes says,

"If I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take for you to name yourself?"

Because you cannot say I love you without the implied foundation of, "But I love myself first." If you don't love yourself first, every time you have ever said I love you, part of that love was a lie.

If our soul is fully aware that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, that He did not make a mistake, that every single thing about us is divinely ordered, then we can have love for ourselves. If we don't have love for ourselves, that means we are doubting the scripture, that we are doubting God's love for us, that we are doubting the way that He made us. My hope is that every single woman reading this today is aware of this Truth and never doubts it.

Prayer:

Today is a renewal or new beginning. Lord, you are a God of comfort, and we send comfort right now in the name of Jesus. God, we send peace and we send hope. We pray right now especially for our mothers, that are raising daughters. We pray that you will bless them to teach their daughters to have self-worth, God. You would teach them, Lord God, to have self-esteem. We would teach our daughters to know that they are beautiful and they don't have to look for validation from anyone. We want to raise strong, powerful daughters, in the name of Jesus. We pray that some of us didn't come from a background that we weren't loved and we weren't nurtured. Lord, we pray today a healing would go forth. We pray that women would no longer suffer in silence.God, we pray that you will go down and heal the hurt, God. Bind up the wounds, but we must uncover our wounds and we must uncover our hurt in order to be healed. As we pray today, we say,

“Today, I will change. Today, I will start. Today, I will begin. Today, I'm walking in a new season. It's a new me."

We bless God for this great, powerful time. I pray that each and every day that you all would call in with a spirit of expectation to get a word. I thank you all. I love you with the love of Jesus. Have a blessed day in Jesus' name. Amen

Walking Assignment:

Your assignment for today, love your body by doing a one-mile walk around a local track or around your neighborhood. Walk at a brisk pace and time yourself. Make sure that you're walking at a really fast pace that is going to make your heart go pitter-patter. Your goal is to walk a mile in 15 minutes or less. As you walk at a heart-pumping pace and as your breath intensifies, that's God's power moving through your body and sustaining you with each step. As you walk, give thanks for the gift of life.