Those of you who follow these devotions on Facebook are familiar with the Memories feature. It will pop up posts and photos from previous years on today’s date. It is fun to see those people and places. Sometimes you see a friend or family member who is no longer with us here on earth. Those memories stir up a variety of emotions.

You don’t need Facebook to have memories. Photo albums provided reminders for previous generations. And before that, it was letters. And before that, your thoughts and keepsakes would conjure up a memory. The Apostle Paul speaks of memories at the beginning of his letter to the believers in Philippi:

Philippians 1:3–6 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

I wonder if people will remember me with thanks and joy? I know not everyone will! But hopefully some will. I try to live in a way that shows the love of Jesus to others, even though I know I don’t always do so. When I pray, I ask God to cover up my shortcomings with the merits of Jesus, confident that for His sake, I am forgiven. That renews me to face each day with a new resolve to live for Jesus.

I mentioned that sometimes letters spark memories. Paul wrote about believers being letters from Christ:

2 Corinthians 3:2–3  You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 

I want to live like a letter from Christ that causes others to remember me with joy. Not for my sake, but so that more people will see the difference Jesus has made in my life. Lord, help me to do this.