Letters of Recommendation - May 27

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 37:1-18; PM Psalm 37:19-42; Deut. 4:32-40; 2 Cor. 3:1-18; Luke 16:1-9

Recently, I wrote several recommendation letters for a scholarship for some of our youth. It was actually kind of fun for me to reflect on their gifts of leadership and ministry and offer that reflection to a group that was interested.  And to do it right, I tried to find a creative way to write about who they are as a way of furthering their chances for a scholarship.  Which had me thinking. “Does it matter?”

I mean, what if, a person applying for a scholarship had such a good writer that they received a scholarship over someone far less qualified.  Or what if someone who was highly qualified had invited someone that they admired to write the letter of recommendation, but it wasn’t any good! It makes me wonder if there are some flaws to the whole “letter of recommendation” process.  A letter of recommendation is nothing more than what someone else says about you.  Sometimes it’s more accurate than others.  Sometimes it is far from the truth.

I am sure this has been considered before, and maybe even by the Apostle Paul.   Paul writes “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely, we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (vs 3:1b-3).

Paul suggests that we ourselves are our letter.  It’s a lovely sentiment, that God’s voice and the love we know as Jesus is written our hearts.  I think Paul is suggesting that the world knows God not through what others say about our lives, but by us and how we live.  This is important because it frees us to stop allowing the worry of what people might think in order to be ourselves.   

It’s easy, and arguably very human, to worry about what others say about us, write about us, or think about us.  We probably care a lot about we what we think of each other.  But Paul reminds us that God’s love is known through our lives.   It’s known by how we reflect that love to others.

Maybe this is your every other weekly reminder to not worry about what others think or say about you. Just live.  And do it in a way that models the love of God.  Be kind, be forgiving, be compassionate.  Be humble.  Share, give, heal.  Model God’s love.  That’s what really matters. 

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What are your major motivations in life?  How often do the opinions of others influence you? 

Daily Challenge: An important and creative exercise, (although a tad bit morbid), is to write your own obituary.   Try writing about how you, see you.