God, when Jesus came to earth, he lead a life of sacrificial, inclusive, and selfless love. While fully God, he was fully human and thrived in the goodness you created the world in. Thank you for that amazing example for us of how to live.
In Jesus, we see that you didn't create us for violence, greed, and oppression. You designed us to be makers of peace and agents of forgiveness, like Jesus was. Where systems and structures have brought dehumanization, you've called us to rehumanize, like Jesus did.
But even when we try to follow that example, we often get off track. Without even meaning to, we easily get swept up in currents of competition, striving, controlling, and consuming.
In our spiritual lives, we easily fall into ruts of thinking that our humanity itself is inherently bad and sinful; of thinking that being human makes us somehow undeserving of your love, God.
Forgive us.
Help us to celebrate and emulate the beautiful way that Jesus lived; as a fully spiritually-alive human who, through your love, brought out the best in everyone and everything.
Amen.
