I think that as followers of Christ, we should be able to accept and love everyone. No matter what we believe, what our faith or doctrine is, no matter our religion, nationality, sexual preference or color, we want to see each other as Jesus sees us. This is a type of love we cannot do on our own. It is only possible by the love of God within us. We want to love, accept and care for people. It’s only natural that we will not always agree, but we want to look past those areas and love each other in Christ. This seems to be the way that others will come to see the love of God, not through condemning and bashing one another. Not in trying to prove we are right and everyone else is wrong. Love doesn’t mean seeing eye-to-eye, it doesn’t mean we agree or even like some of the things people do, but it does mean we look past the differences and love each other as Christ loves us.
Labels
No matter if we are gay, straight, religious, atheist, asexual, baptist, methodist, charismatic or whatever label people put on us, the underlying fact is we are all human beings. We all deserve to be treated with respect and be accepted. Each of us should be able to live our life and make our own choices without being judged and condemned by others. We should be able to discuss our differences respectfully, and none of us should try to force our views and choices on others.
If we could look past the labels and see each other as people who overall want the same things, to be happy, to be loved, be healthy, get our bills paid and enjoy life, I think things would be better even with our differences. This is not to say we are going to agree with everyone, always associate with everyone and be happy together, that just isn’t going to happen. There are too many different thoughts, ideas, beliefs, lifestyles and personalities for us to agree on everything and be totally comfortable with everyone, yet accepting each other and respecting each other in spite of our differences certainly is a possibility.
Let’s look past the labels and see each other as human beings who have feelings, who want love and friendship. Let’s be people who can get to know one another, learn from, share thoughts and ideas with and accept each other as being created in the image of God.
[…] is, each and every one of us could have a label or something that someone else would think is wrong. Rather than being judgmental and pointing out […]
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Thanks, Michael. You wrote, ” We each should be able to live our life and make our own choices without being judged and condemned by others. We should be able to discuss our differences respectfully, and none of us should try to force our views and choices on others.”
Yes, we should. But their is a root cause in each of our natural hearts that gets in the way. It is called pride. Our natural hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful above all things so that we can’t even know them ourselves. There is a war raging in our members that begs to manifest itself and spew out its venom on others. The hippie movement in the 60’s was all about peace and love, but that did not last long. It soon turned violent and self-serving on drugs and sex and hate marches and demonstration against the establishment and anyone that did not agree with them. In short,
WE NEED A NEW HEART! And that comes from God as we humble ourselves before Him and ask Him to change us. If He doesn’t do that we at best will be caught in the Rodney King syndrome saying, “Why can’t we all just get along?”
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezek 36:25-27, ESV2011)
May we each humble ourselves before God and seek His healing by Him giving us the heart of His Son, Jesus Christ.
“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,” (Phil 2:2-5, ESV2011)
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So true. There is a way to do things that most of us either forget about or want nothing to do with. That is the way of the Spirit. Done in his guidance, strength and love a real difference can be made. Thanks for your comment.
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If you put it like this it can sound so simple. Almost like Jesus would have put it “love thy neighbour” so basic and so true. Yet modern day organized Christianity still manages to be such a convoluted mess of rules and regulations disguised as spontaneous love. It just amazes me sometimes.
Thank you for your blog, I really enjoy reading your articles!
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Yes, religion tends to make things so much harder than God intended. Thanks for your kind comments.
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Definitely on the same page – echoing some of my own thoughts on a recent blog – I am so glad there are others out there following Jesus and seeking to get to the heart of the matter and not be distracted by the endless number of things that divide and distract us from loving those around us. Jesus just about put the lid on this subject with his injunction to love our enemies!
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Division is one of the biggest issues in the christian world today. Not just among other christians but with everyone. You are so right, love for God and for one another is what will make a difference. Thanks for your comment.
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