Mary: Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness预览

Mary was a very important part of God’s plan to give us the gift of Jesus. We talked a little bit about why Jesus came in our first lesson. Do you remember the big problem that came into the world? Sin. Adam and Eve were the first ones to sin. But since then, there have been a whole lot of sinners. Who has sinned?

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23)

We all have sinned, and because of this, we all experience separation from God and death. Sin is the reason that we feel any kind of pain or suffering. But God did not want to be apart from us. So, from the beginning, He planned to fix the problem of sin.

Read John 19:16b-42

Jesus suffered horribly on the cross. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to stand next to a cross that your friend, brother, or son was nailed to? I can’t. Yet, Mary stood there. How would you feel if you were her?

But look what happens as Mary is standing there in deep emotional pain. Jesus— though He was in excruciating physical pain—remains faithful. Jesus compassionately looks at His mom and makes plans to have His friend and follower take care of her since He will no longer be able to do it. Jesus loves us and cares for us in our times of suffering.

This brings us to our last FAITHFULNESS LESSON:

A Faithful Girl Is Loved by God Through Her Suffering.

What?! You might think: “That faithfulness lesson doesn’t tell me what to do!” Exactly. It’s easy to make being faithful to God all about us. We can fall into a trap to do a lot of things and follow a lot of rules. And sometimes there are things that are important to do, but mostly faithfulness is about being near Jesus so we can be changed by His love.

Mary stood near Jesus. And she was loved by Him in a time of great suffering. Yes, there was grief. Yes, there were tears. Yes, there was a cross and a grave. But, as she stood at the foot of the cross, Mary was loved. There in her pain, she experienced God’s faithfulness in a special way.

And Jesus? He didn’t stay dead! Three days later, He rose from the grave and conquered death once and for all. After Jesus came back to life and returned to heaven, the Bible briefly mentions Mary one more time. She and many of Jesus’ followers were praying together in a tiny room. From this, we can see that she understood that Jesus was the Lamb of God.

Mary is now in heaven with Jesus. That’s what happens to anyone who believes in Jesus and gives their heart and life to Him. Mary is not in heaven because she gave birth to Jesus or because she was perfect, but because she trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross as a payment for her sin. THAT is the most important lesson we can learn from Mary. Jesus was her faithful Savior.

If you want to learn more about Mary and what it means to be a girl of faithfulness, check out this TrueGirl Bible Study!
Mary: Becoming a Girl of Faithfulness