Letters from Christ
by Jilly Lyon-Taylor
Handwritten letters are becoming rarer these days, as people increasingly use electronic means of communication such as emails, text messages, and WhatsApp. The possibility of instant communication can sometimes cause pressure, and seem overwhelming. However, as Christians, all these methods provide us with opportunities to bring instant encouragement, comfort, support or advice to those who need it. We can be, as today’s verse states, ‘a letter from Christ’, even if using email or text message! We can also bring an expression of God’s heart in the way we are with people, often without words.
What sort of letter can we be? I was thinking of the different types of letters that can be sent. I still have my husband’s letters written to me before we were married over forty-two years ago! These are love letters. God may want to use us to express His love to someone in a special way today. Occasionally people need to write letters to bring correction or to give advice, and God may want to use us in that way.
As a parent, there have been occasions in our sons’ lives when I felt I wanted to express our appreciation of them in a particular way. This generally happened at significant moments, such as when they were about to get married, or when they were embarking on a gap year and going abroad. I was able to express in a letter how we felt about them, so they could keep it and reread it. Similarly God may want to use us to encourage someone, and let them know how much they are appreciated.
What a privilege to be used by God as His letter for others! But we need to know, on each occasion, what type of letter God would want us to be for each person we come across, and what He would want to express to those people. We don’t want to be like Job’s so-called friends, whom God berated for not speaking what was right (Job 42:7-8), so we need to be walking closely with Him, and listening to Him. That means remaining (or abiding) in Him, as Jesus commands us in John 15. Then people will see Him in us, and He will be able to speak through us.
Remember that you can be a letter from Christ to those around you today.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the privilege of being used by You. Please fill me afresh with Your Spirit and help me to be a ‘letter’ from You to those around me today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Jilly Lyon-Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training Scheme(NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.
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