You are not the first to be grieved by religion without a heart.
Here is something worth noticing before you read: the sharpest words Jesus ever spoke were not to people who had never heard of God. They were to deeply religious people. People who tithed carefully, knew the Scriptures and never missed a gathering, and had lost the heart of the thing.
So if you have looked at the church and thought, something here is badly wrong, you are not being cynical. You are seeing a little of what Jesus saw.
Read slowly. Notice what He says the religious leaders were careful about, and what He says they left out.
What you write stays in this browser. Nothing is sent to anyone.
Check in
Last time you wrote that you would:
This is where you will look back at yesterday. For today, just notice how you are coming into this.
An honest prayer
Pray this as it is, or in your own words.
Jesus, You saw all of this long before I did, and it grieved You more. Thank You that my disappointment is not stronger than Your love.
Read
Matthew 23:23-28 (OTB)
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the weightier matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practised these, without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides! You filter out a gnat while you swallow a camel. 25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.