“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Psalm 78:4).

Everyone has a story. “How did you get here? Where did you come from?”

From little on, we learn to tell stories about ourselves. Yet your story is not told in isolation. Your story is linked to the stories of others who have gone before you. In some families like my own, stories are passed from generation to generation—how the Lord brought our parents and ancestors through hardship to gracious blessings as they built a family, a business, or a ministry. Some stories leave you rolling on the floor. Others cause you to wipe a tear. Still others fill you with praise.

Seeing God’s story

You see, our stories are part of a bigger story—the story, his story—the story of God’s love for us in Christ. That story is filled with “the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.”

It goes back to the very beginning. For a brief moment in time, our first parents lived in holy peace with the Lord . . . until they tragically ruined everything with one act of disobedience. They desperately needed a Savior, and the Lord in love came through!

A Savior would be born to crush the power of Satan, but they would have to wait. Generations came and went. Centuries passed. Kingdoms rose and fell. The Lord preserved his promise until the right time came. The Savior named Jesus was born in lowliness. Yet unlike every one of us, he lived his entire life without sin. Then, grace upon grace, Jesus paid the price for sin on a cross and gave his life to give us life.

But that’s not all!

Jesus came to be the death of death. Death could not hold him—and that means death will not be able to hold you either. Eternal life with Jesus awaits you, but so does resurrection. Should you die, someday you too will rise from the dead to be with your Savior forever.

Connecting his story to yours

It’s a breathtaking story, isn’t it? The story of God’s love for you in Christ is like no other. Yet his story is your story too. Yes, like all of us, you came into this world with sin infecting every fiber of your being. Even so, the Lord in undying love guided all things, including history itself, to make you his own. In love, he sent out his Word so you would hear it, so you would come to faith and know your Savior Jesus. In love, he brought you into his family through water and the Word in Baptism. In love, he still feeds you through his Word and Supper. In love, he will bring you home to heaven. His story is your story.

Our stories are part of a bigger story—the story, his story—the story of God’s love for us in Christ.

Friend, what will you do with that story of God’s love for you? Like so many of your own stories, you tell it. You know this story from God’s Word. Whom will you tell?

Like the believers of old, we will tell the story of “the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD” to everyone in our lives—our families, our friends, the people who cross our paths, and those who come after us. We tell them his story because it’s our story too!

PRAYER: O Lord, open my mouth to tell your praiseworthy deeds of grace to all the people in my life. Then they will know that they are part of your story too. Amen.

Author: Jeremiah Gumm
Volume 113, Number 07
Issue: July 2026
Photo: iStock