☕️ Happy Wednesday morning!

To help you love like Jesus, here are 3 ideas from me, 2 quotations from others, and 1 question for you to live into.

3 Ideas From Me 🤓

1)

Jesus' positioning of fasting alongside giving to the poor and communal prayer encourages us to focus on what we give when we fast rather than what we gain.

2)

We grieve as an expression of our desire to experience God in the face of grief over the presence and impact of sin and death in personal or systemic expressions.

​Source.

3)

Through the lens of the Hebrew Scriptures, we see that fasting is a response to moments when God is dishonored or disobeyed, or when his people suffer defeat, disappointment, dehumanization or death. In other words, we fast in imitation of our God who grieves when life in this world is not the way it’s supposed to be.

​Source.

2 Quotations From Others 🤯

1)

Catholic priest Richard Rohr on the power of fasting:

"Fasting frees us from ourselves."

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2)

Philosopher Dallas Willard on doing our work free from the approval of others:

"Whatever our position in life, if our lives and works are to be of the kingdom of God, we must not have human approval as a primary or even major aim. We must lovingly allow people to think whatever they will. We may, if it seems right, occasionally try to help them understand us and appreciate what we are doing. That could be an act of love. But in any case we can only serve them by serving the Lord only."

​Source.

1 Question For You 🤔

Jesus teaches us: “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Think about this text and your everyday life in the world around you. What word or phrase stands out to you? Bring this to God and ask him how He hopes you'll respond to what you see.

If you'd like to share what God is stirring up in your head, heart or life, I'd love to hear about it! Shoot me a text (706.424.1130) or an email (matt@transformdiscipleship.org).

This week, there are three ways that you can join us as we help each other become like Jesus:

• Listen to this week's Bible Project PODCAST and PLAYLIST​
• ​Read the Transformational Discipleship MEMO. It's a Tuesday email that goes deeper into themes we cover in this newsletter.
• ​Read Transformational Leadership. It's a Saturday email that helps church leaders turn obstacles into opportunities.

📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join our journey.

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Until next week,

Matt Adair - Creator of Transformational Discipleship​

E - matt@transformdiscipleship.org

C - 706.424.1130