At the end of today's verse we see an important truth: God made human beings in His own image. We are made in the image of God. What odes that mean? It means that we have value!

It's easy to look in the mirror and find lots of imperfections. It's easy to compare yourself to your friends and feel that you're not as smart or as funny as they are. It's at that point that we start to feel bad about ourselves.

TODAY'S TRUTH: I AM IMPORTANT TO GOD

The truth is friends you may not be as smart or as funny as your friends, but that in no way means that your life is not important or that you don't have other qualities that are just as good. You matter to God. He has a plan for you, and a purpose for your life. 

There are people who need what you bring to the world. So don't let yourself be lied to and feel that you don't matter. You do. You've been made in the image of God!

Today's verse is extremely intense. It talks about if an animal or person kills another person that they must die. And while that may seem really intense, it's also really powerful as it shows just how much God loves people.

People are so incredibly important to God. The Bible shows us over and over again, the depth of God's love for his people. He loves them deeply and if we are followers of Him we are called to show others that same love and respect that he showed us. Regardless of who they are. 

TODAY'S TRUTH: PEOPLE ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD

It can be easy to look at someone who looks or act differently than you and think they're not important or you're better than them. The truth is friends, regardless of how people look or act, they're important to God.  That means that we should be treating others with love and respect. Not because we always agree with them or even like them, but because they're important to God. 

So today, if you've been guilty of treating someone unfairly, make any adjustments in your heart that you need to make. Realize that regardless of how people look or act, they were made by our creator God, and just like you they have extreme value to God. Because of that, we should love them and treat them with respect. 

The Bible says that when you become a Christian, you are made into a new creature. On the inside, your spirit is made completely new. Now that you are made new in your spirit the Holy Spirit is able live and refresh you. this new relationship with God that takes place in your spirit is like a river. It's always there and always flowing. Sometimes you might not feel it as much or at all but that doesn't change the fact that He's still there. 

If you're a Christian, your spirit is completely new and forgiven.

At times when you do not feel the Holy Spirit in you, you can read you Bible, pray and sing. Praise and worship is a great way to get your focus on God and back on this river of life that is constantly flowing in your spirit. If you are a Christian, realize that in your spirit you are completely new and forgiven. Today you have a river of God flowing in you that is eternal. It is always there to refresh you and encourage you in your walk with God. 

Have you ever noticed that a lot of the time we want things 'now'. We want our teachers to give us less homework, 'now'. We want our parents to get off our case, 'now'. We want our lives and our relationships to get better, 'now'. We live in a world where things often happen fast and we are so used to instant downloads and results and action that it's sometimes hard for us to be patient and wait for things to change. 

TODAY'S TRUTH: TIMES OF WAITING HELP US DEVELOP CHARACTER

But it's in the times of waiting that God helps us develop character in our lives. In the waiting time, God might challenge you to get closer to him.

Waiting isn't always comfortable, but it's good for us. In those times of waiting on the promises of God, we can develop godly character.

Today's if you've been waiting for change for awhile, don't give up. God is working in your life. Through this situation, he's going to build character into your life. 

When Adam sinned in the garden, humankind, became sinful. The whole world was no longer the good place that God had created, and death and sin reigned. 

Adam's disobedience caused us all to be sinful. It caused us to be without hope in the world. However, throughout time we see God's great love for humankind. we see His care and His love in sending His son Jesus to be the one person to help us receive God's approval. 

That's what's so powerful about the gospel. It's not just man's word, it's God's word, given with love to us. It's God himself doing something for humanity. God loved us in such a deep way that He was willing to do what it took to make us right with Him. 

The good news is that your sin doesn't reign over you. There's hope found in Jesus that is not found anywhere else. So today, thank God for sending Jesus. Stand firm in the fact that you've been made righteous and are approved by God. 

When Adam sinned, it brought death to all humans. There was nothing we could do and now way we could make ourselves right with God. That's why another man, Jesus, had to come and die for us. 

Jesus came and His death provided our freedom from death and sin. 

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. - Romans 5:6

Form the beginning of time, God's plan has always been about humankind. He loves us that much. 

So on those days when you question your worth. When you wonder does God really care about you. You can remind yourself of today's verse. That when we were helpless, God cared enough to send His son. 

The death and resurrection of Jesus proves your worth. It proves how much God cares about you and your life. So don't believe the lie that says your life doesn't matter. god proved your worth when He sent His son for you. 

In the Garden of Eden, things were really good. god even said in Genesis 1:31 the things He had made were "very good."
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Even though things were really good, Adam listened to the snake and disobeyed God. Adam's sin changed things for each of us. 

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. - Romans 5:12

Now the creation that God had made experienced death. God's creation was no longer good. 

That's why today we see wars, we hear of people hurting each other and experience bad things in our world. Adam's sin affected us all. 

TODAY'S TRUTH: SIN BROUGHT DEATH TO THE WORLD

Because of Adam's sin, the world isn't good, as it had been created. Adam's sin brought death and destruction and things we're good. However, God's love for us was so great. God wasn't okay with us being lost in sin forever. 

Sin cause us to have need of a savior, Jesus. And thank God, He sent His son so that we didn't have to stay bound by our sin forever!

​When you face success in life, no matter how big or small, it can be easy to fall into the temptation of becoming prideful. Maybe you got the best grade on your math test in the whole class or got the trumpet solo for the jazz band. If left unchecked, you can begin to think that you’re better than everyone else. When you’re successful, you have to decide to keep a humble attitude.

Uzziah was successful as a leader and began to think of himself more highly than he should have. He believed that he was above the rules and as a result, sinned against God. His pride was his downfall.
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When you face success, there’s nothing wrong with being happy and proud of your accomplishments. However, don’t let that pride grow to the point where it becomes your downfall. Choose instead to always thank God for your success and stay teachable and humble. If you keep those things in mind, you’ll always be able to handle success in positive ways.

If you've ever played guitar, you know that the more you practice the more your hands get calloused. These callouses from on your fingertips and you begin to lose sensitivity in those areas. Callouses are a natural part of playing guitar, the more you play, the more calloused your hands get. 

It's often easy to develop callouses when it comes to the things of God. For example, it's really easy to get used to hearing the gospel. You may have heard hundreds of times about God's love toward you. You might have heard all the stories in the Bible tons and tons of times. If you hear it enough, sometimes you take it for granted or even become a bit calloused to the things of God. 

This is an example of living a Godly life, but not really experiencing the power of that life.  If you become calloused to the gospel, it mean you're no longer excited about the things of God. As you lose excitement, you being to stop living in the light of God's word. Doing this causes the gospel to lose its power in your life. So today, choose to not become calloused to the things of God. If you've lost some of your excitement for God, determine to spend more time in God's presence. Choose to make time with Him a priority. Make knowing Jesus the most important thing in your life. 

Have you ever noticed that your habits matter? If you're an athlete, you won't get far if you don't exercise, lift weights, and eat right. If you stuff your face full of chips, soda and spend your free time sitting around relaxing, you can't expect to go as far in sports as someone who eats right and exercises. 

We know that habits set the course for our lives. The habits we choose each day set us up for success or failure later in life. 

Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. - Ephesians 4:22

In today's Bible verse, Paul is not saying that you still have  sinful spirit. Rather when he says to throw off the old sinful nature he's talking about turning away from our habits and lusts. 

TODAY'S TRUTH: YOUR HABITS MATTER

The way we act and our habits should reflect Jesus. We shouldn't live our lives like we did before we knew Christ. We shouldn't be living like the world lives. Instead, we should live lives that reflect Jesus to the world around us. A big part of doing that is throwing off bad habits and lusts. 

As Christians, we should be letting our new spirit man lead our habits. We should be following what our spirit desires, not what seems good to our flesh. So challenge yourself today to focus on letting your spirit man lead your choices and habits. Choose to let the new man dominate the things you think, say, and do.