Morning Devotional 072825 Seek Peace!

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

July 29, 2025

Psalm 34:11-14

11 Come, children, listen to me. Let me teach you how to honor the LORD: 12 Do you love life; do you relish the chance to enjoy good things? 13 Then you must keep your tongue from evil and keep your lips from speaking lies! 14 Turn away from evil! Do good! Seek peace and go after it!

Good Morning! Seek peace and go after it!

What does the Psalmist mean by honoring the Lord? Sometimes, when creating a goal or setting a task for completion, we make it more complicated than it needs to be. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he gave a straightforward answer: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

We, humans, complicate God’s commandments when we try to attach qualifiers and labels to this directive. When we do this, we fall into the trap of looking for loopholes, allowing us to pick and choose who we should love and who we can exclude. 

We should adopt an attitude of striving to be an overachiever when it comes to following God’s commandments. It would be better to love everybody than to inadvertently miss someone. 

Back to verse 13 in our Psalm, where we are told to keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking lies. How do we do this? I think that it begins with our mindset. If we go in search of evil, we will surely find it. If, instead, we look for goodness, that is what will be revealed to us. 

When we set out to love our neighbors as ourselves, we set ourselves up to do good, so that we may find the peace that God offers to those who choose to follow Christ. 

Giving Lord, you bless us abundantly! When we feel drawn to evil, remind us to pray for guidance. Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Listen and follow Jesus!

Seek peace and find joy!  Pastor Liz