In the Collect of today's liturgy we pray: "Grant all that works for our good." In the first reading Paul tells his beloved that he "bears all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory." What God did for Paul, that is, using his imprisonment and sufferings for the good of others, so too, does God do for us. Our self-sacrificing love for others, no matter how small, brings about good for others. Our intercessory prayer does the same. We might not see how what we do for others "works for [their] good," yet, in faith, we know that God is always at work in us and through us so that the salvation that is ours, and theirs, in Christ Jesus is accomplished.
Lord, I pray, continue to show me your ways at work in me and in others. Continue to transform all in me that thwarts Your will from being accomplished through me, namely, that blocks the good You want to bring into being in another person's life through what I suffer for them, even if that suffering is no more than remaining silent, for instance, when what they are saying is untrue of me or when, i in another instance, they are being given credit that belongs to me. May I be willing to hold nothing back in loving others as You love me, knowing that the work we are doing obtains, for them and for us, "the salvation that is in Christ Jesus"!
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