In the first blog of this series, we spent some time defining spiritual restoration and how God is making things new, right here and right now - and that we get to be a part of it! If you missed it, be sure to check it out HERE. We will continue to dig deeper into what it looks like to experience spiritual restoration in each area of our lives and how these concepts are applied to the Makarios programs in the DR and Uganda. We also want to reiterate that while Makarios' work focuses on vulnerable communities, spiritual restoration through the love of Christ is the key for all of us to experience human flourishing.
→ Our relationship with God ←
Our relationship with Self
Our relationship with Others
Our relationship with the rest of Creation
In this post, we are looking closer at how our relationship with God is foundational and affects every other area of our life. Humans were created in God’s image, which means we were built to experience loving relationships - with God and others. We were made to worship. In fact, we all worship something, but if our worship is misplaced towards something that isn’t God, it will never satisfy us. Putting God first and directing all of our worship to Him is the only thing that will lead to true flourishing.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." -Matthew 22:37
So how do we do this? It begins by believing the truth about God and accepting His gift of grace, given to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. No one gets a head start on this process or is exempt from acknowledging this truth. God’s grace is the first step of restoration. We are reconciled to God and can begin a personal relationship with Him. From that point, His Spirit will begin to work in us to bring about change in our lives, as we grow more into the image of Christ. Remember, this is a lifelong process, so give yourself a break! We strive to help each person that we serve begin or grow in this relationship with Jesus.
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."
-2 Corinthians 5:18-20
This simple truth impacts everything Makarios does as an organization. It means that the gospel is the best news that we could share because it brings restoration between us and God. God is near to the brokenhearted, the downtrodden, and the poor. His heart is for the lost. In this broken world, there are many needs that we could be addressing. With this lens, Makarios regularly evaluates its work to ensure alignment with these truths. We ask ourselves: Do our programs help our students and families understand that a restored relationship with God is foundational to becoming all that God created them to be? Are we equipping church and school leaders to share the same message? Our desired impact is that our students, their families, and their communities recognize their need to be in a relationship with a loving Father and begin their journey of being restored to who God made them to be.
Our relationship with God affects all parts of our life. In our next post, we’ll be exploring how God gives us a new identity and how that impacts our sense of self. Stay tuned to learn how to take hold of God's truth about His beloved creation - you!
Here are some of our other stories of change.