Dear friends, my heart is heavy at the news of what has happened recently to George Floyd, and far too many times to other people of colour. We usually only hear about the devastating cases, but if you know any people of colour, they will tell you that this is not an isolated incident. More horrific than some perhaps, but all the insults, threats, and injustices directed toward people of colour based solely on the colour of their skin are wrong.
For the last few months all of my posts have been about love. Jesus gave a new commandment to his disciples to love each other as he has loved us. (John 13:34) He said that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is like it—to love each other. (Matthew 22:37-39) Love does no wrong to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:10) We are to follow the example God gave us, and love as he would. (Ephesians 5:1-2) 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us plenty of concrete ways to show that love.
Before I started the series on love, I did a series on who we are in Christ. God sees us, all of us, as Christ's brothers and sisters; we are joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:16-17) We are all valued by God. But God doesn’t admire the same things we do. He does not look at the outward appearance, but at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) He does not look at height, or appearance, and he certainly doesn’t look at skin colour. He looks at our hearts. Did you notice how much importance God puts on love? Dear friends, let us love one another as God has loved us.
