Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down… (Rev. 12:10)
For a couple of years, I was the editor of a monthly periodical on leadership development. Part of this publication included an interview with an influential leader in county government.
As I was conducting one particular interview, the leader began to cry. I turned off the tape recorder, gave him a few moments, and then asked, “What’s going on?”
He said, “You shouldn’t be interviewing me on leadership. All my life, I’ve been told I’ll never amount to anything. I’m a loser and sham, not a leader.”
Sadly, this man had grown up being told by his family that he would never succeed at anything. What they had continually said to him became the script that defined his life, the script that he heard no matter what he did, the script that beat him down.
I’ve heard so many negative scripts over the years. “Someday, we’ll be proud of you.” “No one would ever marry you.” “Why aren’t you more like your…” “You’ll never change.” “If others knew you, they wouldn’t love or respect you.” “Why can’t you be normal?”
Jesus came to give us God’s scripts. He wants God’s scripts to overwhelm and obliterate the negative and mean scripts we may have inherited, been given, or picked up. So many of us live by the scripts of the Accuser—see today’s lesson—and not by God’s scripts.
I encourage us to listen for and embrace the scripts God wants us to hear. What do God’s scripts sound like? “You are my precious child.” “You are blessed.” “You are forgiven.” “You will always be part of my family.” “You are loved now and forever.”
The Accuser’s scripts belittle, demean, and diminish us. God’s scripts uphold, honor, and encourage us. Jesus came, as today’s scripture says, to “throw down” all accusing scripts.
The difference between listening to the Accuser’s scripts and listening to God’s scripts is the difference between death and life, despair and joy. Which and whose scripts are we going to listen to? The scripts we choose will define our life.
Reflection Questions:
- What are your scripts? How did you get them? How have they impacted your life?
- What scripts do you believe Jesus has for you? If you always embraced His scripts, how would your life change?
- What scripts do you give to others? Do your messages discourage or encourage, tear down or lift up, weaken or strengthen? Do you need to change the scripts you give?