Spirit of Adoption

 "For all who are led by the Spirit of God

are children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery

to fall back into fear,

but you have received a spirit of adoption."

Romans 8:14-15

This is my Mother-in-law.

I did not choose her and she did not choose me. Seated beside her is my niece whom I did not choose either and neither did she choose me. Yet, the spirit between us is one of acceptance and caring. 

In ancient Rome, unwanted children were abandoned or sold into slavery. Sadly, this reality persists today in many parts of the world. Families overwhelmed by poverty abandon infants they cannot afford to raise, or sell them into the slavery of child labor.  

Parents might give their children with the hope of offering them an opportunity for a better life and a more hopeful future.

That's the story of a farmer in Central America who told a reporter the older children were sent north to the US border. The drought was so bad there was nothing to feed the children. Perhaps in the US they would be fed and have a better future.

 In Romans 8:15 Paul assures us that although we struggle in a world of sin and death, we have not been abandoned to lives of slavery and fear. In Christ, God has adopted us as God’s very own children. We know this because because God’s Spirit “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”

As God’s adopted children we share in Christ's sufferings so God’s good purposes - the liberation of a world in bondage - are achieved.

AS God's adopted children we know that whatever evil or suffering we face, we have God's promise that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).