Greetings Dear Reader,
One of our natural reactions is to shun people with morals
and values that differ from ours. Differences can make us uncomfortable and we
follow the wrong path. We may just avoid
them. We may choose to protest against
them. Sometimes we go so far as to imprison
them, deny them rights, and persecute them.
No matter what your excuse none of this is loving a
neighbor. We cannot legislate,
prosecute, or persecute others into our way of thinking or belief. Humans will do as they choose. They have free will and no human can control that.
Knowing that nothing oppressive works we are left with a
choice. How are we going to treat others
that differ from us in our morals and values?
If I hope to follow Christ well the answer is simple. I must treat them like a neighbor, with
love. I must love my neighbor no matter
how I feel about his or her morals and values.
Let that sink in for a moment.
The command to love your neighbor is not couched in
qualifiers. There is no “unless”
attached. We do that. We fill the command with our own
baggage. We water it down to exclude
those who we dislike, make us uncomfortable, or even hate. We choose to claim we are loving when we are
not.
What then is the answer for me as a Christ follower? I have very exclusive morals and values. There are things that I believe to be wrong,
full stop. I am not wrong to believe
those things. I am wrong to discount,
disavow, or disrespect anyone who differs from me. It is my obligation to love my neighbor.
In light of that I choose to treat my neighbors with love
and kindness. I am privileged to have
neighbors who differ from me greatly. I
have forged an interaction with them that is kind and friendly. That is what we need to do for each
other. That is how we should be as
humans. So, if you are different from
me, I ask you, please won’t you be my neighbor?
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home
owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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