Daily Gospel Reflection for August 17, 2025

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: Luke 12:49-53

Today’s Gospel is kind of a downer. It’s not a message of love and peace and warm fuzzy feelings, and it can leave us a bit confused. Has Jesus really come to bring division? When we look around, we can see it: division among family members, among people in the Church, and among our friends. I feel it personally after my own difficult experience in community and have often asked God, “Where are You in these painful moments?”

Hebrews 4:12 gives some insight when Paul writes that the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, able to penetrate between soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts of the heart. When division occurs, a crack opens up in our exterior and we can see what lies beneath—the ulterior motives, sinful behaviors, or wounds that we are acting out of.

And what does God want more than anything else? To purify our hearts and cleanse us from the inside. Not only is God’s mercy moved by our pain, but our sorrow allows God to draw closer into the deeper depths of our hearts. 
When my husband almost cut his finger off, the wound couldn’t heal because some fingernail was left inside, causing infection. The surgeon had to bring division and cut the finger open again to clean and heal it from the inside out. 
We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. The division and hurt can lead to new life if we allow the baptism of fire to purify our insides.

Ponder:

What is a painful situation of division among friends or family that you have experienced? What deeper work might God be doing through it?

Pray:

Lord, come with Your fire to purify me from the inside out. Let any division be for Your greater glory and lead me to deeper healing.

Copyright 2025 Allison Auth