Live Your Blessing February 17 2026 Devotional

GENESIS 28:13-16 | ¹³ And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, ¹⁴ and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”

Jacob did not deserve it, but God blessed him anyway. “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go; and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Jacob was to be given the blessing of land and enduring legacy despite his manifest failures. God demonstrated His love for us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Later when Jacob finally meets Esau once again he receives a hug and not a fatal blow, not because he deserved that gesture of reconciliation and forgiveness, but simply because Esau decided to let go of his revenge.

When we love others and treat them in ways that they do not deserve, when we accept them despite their flaws, then we and they are both changed. God’s love for us is transformative because it is undeserved. When we treat others this way it can overcome the pull of our dark side and defeat the consequences of our mistakes, and the mistakes of those who have let us down.

When has someone loved you despite your flaws?

Gracious God,

Thank you for accepting and loving me despite the times I live out of the power of my shadow self, giving in to temptation and pursuing the wrong things. May Your love transform me and change the way I treat others.

Amen.