Good evening, Church.
Yesterday, during the sermon, I said I’d try to email out some of my ideas regarding “how we can be better at realizing how societal events impact our brothers and sisters whose experiences are often different than our own.” Here are my suggestions that apply to all of us:
- Search for sin in our hearts, and if we find it, repent.
- Spend time together.
- Listen to one another.
- Be patient and forgiving when people offend.
- If someone offends you on purpose, God will judge that person. He will defend you.
- If someone offends you without malice, be patient and endure it like Christ endures us.
- And in every occasion, forgive as Christ does. Give the same amount grace you want to receive from God. As Jesus said in his great prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
- Be humble and open-minded rather than defensive and argumentative.
- Remember at all costs that we are one in God and in Christ Jesus.
- Remember that even those in the world who don’t like us are still our brothers in sisters in God. We are all humans created in God’s image.
- That equality in the eyes of God means we have to love each other. Those of us mature in Christ will want to love each other.
- Loving each other means we have to learn how to encourage and support one another even when we don’t necessarily understand or experience events in exactly the same way.
- And my brothers and sisters, we have to continue to do better today than we did yesterday.
- If we do these things, we will strengthen the unity of the family here, and together we will embody great truths of the gospel that will work to advance the kingdom mission of God.
I hope these ideas help you (and me) be prepared for honest, healthy interactions and conversations this week.
God bless,
Patrick