Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
My dad was stationed in New York when I was a little girl. One day when I was playing with my friend Juanita on the playground, some kids came up and called her a n——–, and called me a n——- lover. We were in kindergarten. We had no idea what they were talking about, but the meanness in their faces and voices made us afraid. Juanita was dark skinned and I am lighter skinned.
With all the turmoil going on, I have been really thinking hard on why anyone would want to hurt another human being, let alone for the sole reason of skin color. I don’t get it at all. I have friends from all over the world. I love it and I love them! The shades of our skin are different, but we are single in heart. We love the Lord, each other, and others.
The word “race” means: 1) connected by common descent or origin 2) great division of mankind having certain physical peculiarities in common 3) group, class {group of persons or things alike in some way; kind; sort}, or kind, especially a class of persons 4) condition of belonging to a particular stock {a related group of people}, or the qualities due to this.
Racism is a heart issue.
Proverbs 6:14 Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
Proverbs 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.
The Lord didn’t tell us to love only those who are the same as us, but simply to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can’t just pick and choose, dear ones. Can you imagine if the Lord did that? Who would He choose, and why? He chooses all of us. He wants that none should perish, but all would come to have eternal life through Jesus Christ.
We work so hard to be like certain people, then can’t stand others because they aren’t like us! Why can’t we be content being who the Lord made us to be and love others just the way He made them to be?
The news headlines read things like: gun control, shootings and riots against different colored people groups, and flags meaning certain things or not. These aren’t the issue. The heart behind them is.
Things will become worse as we read in 2 Timothy 3:1-4
But we know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
It’s time we stop picking and choosing who we think we should love and reach out to others to show them the love of a kind and loving Father. A Father that loves us so much that He gave everything for us so we could choose to be His, or not. A Father that chooses us, but will never force us to choose Him.
Our Father makes it simple for us when He says not to compare ourselves with each other (2 Corinthians 5:12 and 10:12) and to love others. (John 13:34) This isn’t all inclusive. Please look up what the Father has to say about love.
Juanita and I didn’t care about skin color or other differences. We saw someone we could be friends with and became buds. We need to be like little kids towards others….accepting. If we all did our family trees back to the beginning, we would see that we all come from Adam.
My prayer for you is that you would see others through the Lord’s eyes and that you would simply love them. Amen.
