In Paul’s letter he admonishes the church to live in peace and holiness because this is the will of God. Here, he issues a warning that if we fail to live obediently in the Lord’s ways, we become overwhelmed in anxiety and defilement. We defile ourselves. And, not only ourselves, we defile many others by failing to obey Jesus’ two commands. God loves all of His children equally – He has no favorites. Therefore, He wants each of His children to be treated with the same level of love and respect regardless of any differences we may have with anyone. ANY differences. This may sound like something we’ve heard many times, but what does this look like in 2022?
As for me, I come from a family of 8 kids. We all have vastly different personalities, with different political and spiritual views. So, naturally we don’t agree on many things. Yet we all love each other unconditionally. We all look forward to reuniting for the holidays, and other special occasions. Leaving all differences aside, we abide in joy and peace because, after all, we’re still family. Our love for each other is one of life’s pleasures. It brings us – and our parents – joy.
Today, as always, we simply can’t have it both ways. We can’t declare God as our Father and fail to acknowledge every man, woman and child as our family. Driving wedges between family members is the same as driving a wedge in Jesus’ heart. It defiles us and is the root cause of making Jesus unattractive to many. When we see differences in others, we need to remember that we come from the same Father. We need to remember that the many things we have in common far outnumber our differences. Focusing on our commonalities in unconditional love is how Jesus drew people to Himself and is the example His true disciples walk in. Walking in obedience to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is the only source of lasting peace.
Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Psalm 48:9 NIV
