How To Accept Others

"Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace." - Ephesians 4:2-3


I'm an idealist. I take everything for face value and have often been called näive. Honestly, I believe everyone should be able to get along, speak openly and understand one another and it's been super painful to realize that this isn't the case, especially within families. I was reading Ephesians one day and came across this verse above. I was so struck by the word "bear." Saint Paul says we have to bear with one another. Me, being an idealist, thought to myself, "why bear? They were Christians! They're supposed to love each other and everything is supposed to be great!"But obviously, it wasn't if Paul had to address this issue.

And I'm coming to realize that people will always have issues with others, no matter how much love there is. We are all different, and that's ok because it's the way God made us. Some of us are punctual, some of us are always late, but either way, God made us all in those ways. We, and I do this a lot, tend to judge and think that if something isn't my way, then the other person is wrong. I've learned I have to grow as a person and understand that I'm not right all the time and I need to stretch and accept others the way they are. That's why Paul says to bear, because there will always be issues, differences, misunderstandings, but at the end of the day, we need to work in peace to find a solution. We need to treat others with kindness and try our best to understand and accept others for who they are. We need to learn to bear with one another, even when they're not stretching for us.

Today's Prayer:
Lord, thank You for opening my eyes to my own injustices. Thank You for teaching me to understand that different isn't wrong and I'm not always right. I pray that You bring this deep understanding to others so that we may all treat one another with kindness and learn to bear with one another in peace. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Responding to the Call of God

"You did not choose me; it was I who chose you and sent you to go and bear much fruit, fruit that will last." - John 15:16

It's a conscious effort to look for God everyday but you need to remember one thing, Jesus has chosen you and has called you by name, you specifically today. Those times you got the urge to pray eventhough it had been a while and that time you opened up the bible out of curiosity, that was the Lord working in you to draw you to Him. Jesus has chosen you, you are so important to Him. He has given you gifts and special abilities He hasn't given to anyone else and He's counting on you to bear fruit, to do His work here on earth. Think about who you can help today, think about what you can do to give hope to someone who needs it. How can you bear fruit and spread the love and truth of God to those that need it? There is no escaping the Lord and this is what you were put here on earth to do, don't disregard the call. You have no idea the wonders that God is preparing to work through you if you open your heart to do His work! This isn't like the work you do in school or at your job in which the ends benefit material things, but these works mean not only the salvation of your soul, but through you others will know and love God too. You will be preparing the paths for others to know the Lord and renew their hearts with His love. You will help bring the joy of the Lord to others and give them a new hope because you said yes to the Lord's call.

Today's Prayer:
Thank You Lord Jesus for calling me to be Your servant. I accept Your call with all my heart and with all my soul. You are my King and I want Your will to be done in me. In Your Name we pray, Amen.