Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
- Romans 15:7
Could it really be that simple? Can praise come to God simply by accepting one another?
Yes, it can. This is the fulfillment of the law, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Thus, we must accept them in order to love them, treating one another with equality. The hard part is, getting past everything that keeps us from accepting one another.
We are human, and because we are fallible, we often, don’t like one another. Our dislike rises from conflicts of interests, hurts that have been caused, or even something from previous generations that we know nothing about other than “we don’t like those people.” When we get down to the root of our dislike, we might realize that the reason we don’t get along with someone is because of our own selfishness. We might find in our thinking that it’s “not our fault things fell apart,” or “we didn’t do anything to them.” These feelings are at their base, selfish.
To truly know the love of God, is to understand that God knows our selfish thoughts, our personal biases, and chooses to love us anyway; in hope that we would overcome ourselves and focus on others. God’s grace and mercy looks on us in all our selfish sin, and says, “You are forgiven, now go and sin no more.” Unfortunately we have short memories, and we probably need to hear those words every day, and every day I confess, I will fail at the latter part, “go and sin no more.”
No one is perfect, right? Well, there is someone who is perfect, and we are called to be just like him – that is Christ. We have been made in His image, we have been redeemed by His blood, and we are called to “Be holy, because I am holy.” Therefore, we don’t have any excuses; we just simply fail day after day, after day. However, our failure does not need to keep us down, because as we turn to Christ, as we ask for forgiveness, it is offered again and again; making each day a new day, that the Lord has made, that we might rejoice and be glad.
So if you have been forgiven, live and sin no more, accept that brother or sister whom you have been holding a grudge against and let the grace of our Lord fall upon that relationship as it is restored and renewed. Let the forgiveness you offer one another bring a smile to God’s face as He looks on you with joy and blesses you with His presence and His love!
Grace & Peace,
Sam