Global Awareness
Today’s devotional
A place can remain an abstraction until we encounter the voices of people who live there. A map, a headline, or a photograph tells part of a story. Learning about the wider world asks us to seek the human experiences and contexts that make those fragments more understandable.
The risen Jesus sends his followers beyond familiar boundaries, with the promise of his presence. Acts describes witness moving outward from Jerusalem toward the ends of the earth. The mission is centered on Christ, and it challenges a community to recognize that God’s work is larger than the world it already knows.
For educators, a wider horizon can encourage careful study and generous attention. Students can learn how places, histories, economies, environments, and communities are connected. Include credible voices from the settings being studied rather than relying only on outside descriptions. Make room for complexity and avoid presenting another society solely through its crises.
Global awareness should also deepen responsibility close to home. A story about water, migration, food, or education may help learners ask how their own choices connect with distant lives. Keep the inquiry age-appropriate and grounded in reliable information. The goal is thoughtful participation, with compassion that grows through understanding.
Choose one place or issue students know mainly through a quick impression. Invite them to ask what else they need to learn. As you seek answers together, pray for the people whose lives are being discussed. Christ’s love can widen our attention while teaching us to approach unfamiliar neighbors with humility and respect.
Adapted from Original devotion 53: Global Awareness in Nurturing Hearts & Minds by Dr. R. C. Titus.
Read the Scripture
Open each passage and read slowly. Notice what these words reveal about God and the life before you.
Matthew 28:16-20 · WEBU
16But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them.
17When they saw him, they bowed down to him; but some doubted.
18Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Acts 1:6-8 · WEBU
6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Pause and respond
For reflection
Whose own account would help us understand a distant place or issue more accurately?
A practice for today
Add a credible first-person or locally produced source to a topic about another place. Ask students what it adds, what it challenges, and what questions remain for further study.
A prayer
Lord of every place, widen our attention beyond familiar borders. Help us learn about distant neighbors with accuracy, humility, and care. Guide our questions toward understanding and our understanding toward responsible love, remembering that your presence and work extend beyond what we already know. Amen.
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