As believers, we are the family of God. The Bible also refers to us as the Church, the body of Christ and the children of God. That makes us ALL vital and very important to the heart of God! We are His chosen, called out and SPECIAL people. We are ALL sons (and daughters!) of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). As in all families, we are different in many ways. To function properly, we must learn to accept and even celebrate our differences. The Bible tells us in Galatians 3:28 that we are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus. Aren’t you glad that God has no favorites in His family? He sees the treasure in each of His children!
God never wants us to allow our differences to separate us! But, we naturally seem to gravitate to people who are most like ourselves. We need to make a point to seek out those who are different than we are and learn to love and appreciate who God made them to be. God’s desire is that we would grow and mature through our relationships with one another. As the family of God, we have been given ALL the benefits of a family: we are heirs of God and co-heirs of Jesus. We are a privileged people, wouldn’t you say? God wants us to engage and participate with His family and we do that through building strong relationships.
Jesus is our common factor, holding us all together. Because we love and honor Him, we must recognize that we’ve been called to do the same for each other. We have all been given different gifts and talents, and we are to use them to bless and build up one another! God views us as one, so we need to BE one, looking out and caring for the needs of each other. It grieves the heart of God when we mistreat or look down on one another.
Healthy families participate in fellowship. Together they communicate, interact and share with one another. Strong relationships bring joy to our lives, and God wants us to live in full and complete joy!! He wants us to ENJOY our fellowship and time spent together! He wants us to celebrate and connect as a family. Let’s make the effort to unite as often as possible. If we look for the beauty in each other, we will surely find it.
In our quiet time this week, let’s answer the following questions:
- Do you value and respect others in the family of God? Are you able to celebrate your differences?
- What can you do to connect and unite more as a family?
- What does 1 John 1:7 tell us about having fellowship with one another?
- Read Galatians 3:26-28. What does it mean to you that we are all ONE in Christ? How should that affect the way we treat each other?
- Are you enjoying your family members? If not, why not?
Let’s look for reasons to unite as the family of God! Let’s learn to celebrate our diversities and appreciate our differences! Let’s LOVE one another as Christ loves us. We want the world around us to see His love operating in the family of God. In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells us to love one another as He has loved us, for by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another!
