I Am Because You Are August 26, 2025 Devotional

PSALM 25:16-17 | ¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. ¹⁷ Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.

A second debilitating fear is social and interpersonal. There is a fear we won’t be accepted, that if known we won’t be loved, and that    rejection is likely or inevitable. This attitude complicates our           attempts to initiate and form relationships, and then to achieve    intimacy. It can lead to us hiding our true personalities, suppressing our genuine feelings, and pretending instead.

This fear produces an ironic result. We long to be known and we are afraid to be known. The antidote is the agape of God, who knows us better then we know ourselves, and loves us beyond our imagining. The more we experience and understand His love, the freer we are in human relationships.

When have you had social anxiety?

Gracious God,

Your love is higher, wider, deeper, and stronger than any other. Help us live in its power and let it free us for deep friendships.

Amen.