This day and age, I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to feel like I fit in with others. Society has drawn a line, and we are expected not to extend outside its boundaries. However, I don’t believe this is how God intended things to be. I don’t believe that cultures, traditions, races, or customs were designed to separate us more than bringing us closer together.
When I was growing up there was a comedy TV show called “All in the Family” that aired on television for quite some time. If you were to search YouTube now, you can probably find several episodes out there. Anyway, it was about a white family and a black family who were neighbors, but neither husbands cared for the other simply because of their differences in race. They would make smart comments, demeaning implications, and go back and forth with hateful rhetoric based on the things that were embedded deep within their hearts. Today I’d like to think that they were just acting.
There are things that can separate us simply because of our lifestyles, differences in opinions, and straight up discontentment over too many things to number and sometimes feeling loved is nowhere to be found. The Bible says we are in the world, but not a part of the world. In other words, these judgements should not be found in the Body of Christ. We are all one family. It’s truly our differences that bring us closer together. God created us to be different but not separate from each other.
No matter what goes on in this world, or how separated or alone you may feel, I’d like to remind you today that as a Christian you are “All in the Family”. Some will not like the way you choose to live your life and others will. The beauty of the thing is, you never have to feel like you don’t belong regardless of your background, your culture, or the color of your skin because a true Christian who loves God—loves you!
I encourage you to remember that no matter how this world lives its life, and no matter how you may feel from day-to-day, draw your strength from the knowledge of knowing that you are in the family of God. You won’t do everything right, you won’t say everything right, and you won’t feel like you belong all the time, but regardless of what you feel, what you see, or how you’re treated, know that God loves you and you’re “Still Saved”.
Don’t allow your differences to separate you from us. After all, we’re made in His likeness and in His image and therefore, we are “All in the Family”—of God. Let’s find a way to love each other and embrace our differences as part of our real family. (Read 1 John 4:19-20 KJV)
