Giving to Caesar What’s His and God Your All: March 16, 2025
Hey everyone! Hope you had a great week. We had a really cool chat at church this Sunday, and I wanted to share some of the things that stuck with me. We looked at a story in the Bible, Luke 20:20-26, where Jesus gets asked a tricky question about taxes. It's actually way more interesting than it sounds!
Basically, some people were trying to trick Jesus. They asked him, "Should we pay taxes to Caesar?" They figured whatever he said, he'd be in trouble. But Jesus, being super smart, asked them to show him a coin. And then he said something amazing: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
What Does That Even Mean?
What was Jesus really saying. You know how coins have pictures of important people on them? Well, back then, Caesar's face was on the coins. So, Jesus was kind of saying, "If it's got Caesar's picture, give it back to him."
But then he said, "Give to God what is God's." And that's where it gets really awesome! You know what has God's picture on it? You do! We all do! We're made in God's image.
You're Like a Walking, Talking Picture of God!
Isn't that amazing? We're like little pieces of God walking around. So, giving God what is God's means giving ourselves to him. It's like saying, "God, I'm yours. I want to live for you."
It's Not About Being Perfect, It's About Belonging
Belonging to God isn't like owning an object. It's more like a loving relationship. Like, if you have a best friend, you care about them, you want to spend time with them, right? It's the same with God!
We looked at a part of the Bible called 1 John 4:13-21, and it talked about how we know we belong to God. We know because:
God's Spirit lives in us.
We believe that Jesus is God's Son.
We love God and we love other people.
Basically, it's all about love! God loves us so much, and he wants us to love him back and love each other.
Let's Keep it Real
Life can get really complicated, right? We have so many things to worry about. But this week, let's try to remember that we belong to God. We're his kids, and he loves us more than we can imagine.
So, let's try to live like it! Let's be kind, let's be helpful, and let's tell people about Jesus. Let's remember that we're like walking, talking pictures of God, and let's try to shine his light wherever we go.
