Hi, friends, I'm glad you could join us for today's devotional reading from our Daily Bread.

It was written by Monica LaRose, and she titled it, At Our Worst.

She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.

This sentence, pronounced by Mr. Darcy and

Jane Austen's pride and prejudice, is the reason I will never forget that novel and its

impact on me. Because after reading that one sentence, I firmly decided I would never like

Mr. Darcy. But I was wrong. Like Austin's character Elizabeth Bennett, I had the humbling

experience of slowly and quite reluctantly changing my mind. Like her, I'd been unwilling to know

Darcy's character as a whole. I preferred to hang on to my reaction to one of his worst moments. After finishing the

novel, I wondered who I'd made that same mistake with in the real world. What friendships had I missed

because I wouldn't let go of a snap judgment? At the heart of faith in Jesus is the experience

of being seen, loved, and embraced by our Savior at our worst.

It's the wonder of realizing we can surrender our old false selves for who we truly are in Christ.

And it's the joy of understanding that we are no longer alone, but part of a family, a body of those learning to walk the way of love.

Real unconditional love.

When we remember what Christ has done for us, how can we not long to see others the way he sees us.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Ephesians chapter 4, verses 20 through 32.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former

way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires,

to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self,

created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off

falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger,

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