Love Like Jesus
Dear Beloved,
This entire week I've thought about what to write. But I am truly at a loss for words. I'm grieving because I look around and my brothers and sisters are in pain. I'm grieving because I have no idea how to talk to my friends and try to comfort them while they grieve because I have never gone through what they have. I'm grieving because I have no idea what to believe because everybody seems to have a different opinion on how I should react. If I post something then I want to hop on the "trend." But if I don't then I don't support the movement. I can't say "Black Lives Matter" because "She's white what does she know." But if I say "All lives matter," then I'm considered a narcissist. If I share my thoughts on my story I get immediate backlash and get labeled "uneducated." But If I don't then my silence automatically means in racist and care for no one but myself.
In the midst of all of this chaos, before making any moves, turn to God. Take what you're hearing and check it with the Bible and you'll know exactly what to do. Romans 12:15 says "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." As Christians, we should be able to look around and see all of our brothers and sisters that are mourning and grieving, and we need to get down and grieve with them.
People grieve differently. Some shut themselves in, some go out and march, and some want vengeance and want to get justice themselves. Romans 12, verses 17, 19, and 21, the whole theme here not to try and take justice into our own hands. "Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God's wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." The Bible does specifically warn us not to take things into our own hands. The world has taken on this "an eye for an eye" mentality and as Christians, that's where we have to draw the line. We know that God will have His way.
I can never pretend to understand the pain, fear, or grief that African Americans experience. And not just right now, but in their daily lives. Our brothers and sisters are being singled out for something they had no control over. Something that shouldn't matter because skin color does not change the fact that they are God's people. While Jesus was dying on the cross, I guarantee that he wasn't thinking about the skin color of the people he was dying for. In fact, Jesus' main principle is to flat out love everyone. Think about it, throughout the Bible you see you see God telling us to love each other multiple times! John 15:12, Romans 12:9-10, Galatians 5:13, 1Peter 4:8, 1John 4:7, John 13:34, and so many more verses tell us to simply love one another.)
One of the most painful things about racism is that it isn't a law that we can repeal or remove. Instead, it's the condition of a person's heart. Many people know that the only way a heart can be 100% changed, is if that heart is touched by true salvation. What are you doing to spread God's love? What are you doing to soften those with hardened hearts?
