By Michelle Welch
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28 (ESV)
So often we have a tendency to think that everyone else is just like us. They sing like us, talk like us, walk like us. But the truth is that the world is filled with an amazing array of people who, like us, are created in the exact image, the Imago Dei, of our Heavenly Father. Yet, like everything that our wise Father created, we are all unique in our design, unique in the places that He so lovingly placed us.
We often become uncomfortable when we see people who don’t worship the same way we do. They may sing a little louder. Maybe they sing a little softer. Maybe they pray with their hands in the air, loudly proclaiming His glory. Maybe they sit quietly in their seats, pondering the stillness. Maybe their pastor walks up and down the aisles with a loud booming voice. Maybe their pastor stands still behind a lectern speaking in a voice they have to strain to hear. Maybe they walk hours to church. Maybe they just walk down the street. Maybe they wear dresses and suits. Maybe they wear blue jeans and flip flops.
Jesus worshiped with many kinds of people. He had dinner with strangers. He had dinner with friends. He surrounded himself with those who wanted to see Him and sometimes with those who didn’t. Yet there is no denying that He never met anyone that He couldn’t connect with.
As we go about our lives, moving through the array of people who come across our path every day, are we modeling Jesus? Are we loving them in the way that they need to be loved, not the way that we think they should be loved? Are we striving to learn the things about them that make them unique? Do we stop to remember that every single person that moves in and out of our lives was uniquely and purposefully designed by a loving Father?
Take a moment today to watch this video from Gateway Church that is an amazing reminder that in any language, at any place, in any form, God is God and He is Holy. He desires our love, our obedience, and our affection. Every day we should strive to be like Him, to love like Him, to show love, to give love, to be love to every one we come in contact with. Even if, and especially if, they are different.
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©Michelle Welch, Breath of Life Women’s Ministries, 2015. Video from Gateway Church choir, Revelation Song. Scripture from English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Image from Pinterest.
