Do you know Leah?
You may or may not notice Leah right away. She is reserved, melting into the background. Leah would consider herself a wall flower and a no-body.
It is no wonder Leah feels this way about herself. Her parents gave her a name that means, “wild-cow,” “weary,” and “tired.” She has worn negative labels all her life, including, unloved and unwanted.
Sitting in the shadows of her beautiful sister, Rachel, Leah has never known what it meant to be center-stage, or on the stage at all for that matter. Leah was always the one hidden behind the curtain.
Whereas the Leah of the bible was married to a man who never loved her and was tricked into marrying her; your Leah might wonder if anyone will ever love her, or if her husband (if she is married) really wants to leave.
Can you help Leah know and experience God’s unwavering love and acceptance for her?
Can you help her see herself the way God sees her?
Leah has never known what unconditional love is and will probably wonder about people’s motives are when they reach out. She finds it easy to compare herself to others and feels that she will never live up to the expectations of others. She is not only critical of herself but jealous of others. It will take a time investment in Leah’s life to help her understand the truth of God’s word about her life and the safe friendships that Christian community can bring.
One of the best ways to help Leah connect to community and begin to experience the unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus is by helping her realize her strengths in the body of Christ. Leah needs to know that regardless of what life looks like on the outside, God has a destiny for her to fulfill and a legacy for her to leave in the Kingdom of God!
Leah needs a community where she is accepted for her individual gifts that God has given her. When she finds this, she will be able to strip off the old tattered labels and replace them with what God’s word reveals about her.
Can you help Leah know and experience a Godly love and acceptance?
Will you help her replace the old labels of worthlessness with new labels of God’s word?
Can you help her build strong and trusting relationships in community?
Can you invest time in helping her discover and develop her strengths in the body of Christ so she can fulfill her destiny and leave a lasting legacy on God’s Kingdom?
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The people in this “Coming to Your Church This Sunday” series aren’t real – even those who are designed from television characters. They are a compilation of people we have known, read about, heard of and heard from throughout the years. Their purpose is to help church leaders get to know those in their congregation and those who might walk through the door. If you see yourself in them, you just have a lot in common with the rest of the human race. _____________________
Angela Craig is the Director of Women’s Ministry for the Northwest Ministry Network. She has just written a new bible study, called The Story of Leah: When Life Is Not What You Expected It To Be
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