EPHESIANS 2:18-22 – “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
THEME OF THE DAY: WE ARE FAMILY. One of the quickest and most accurate means to determine how close to the Lord Jesus we are and how much we are conforming to His image will be our treatment of other Christians. How we speak to and about them, what we think about them, the attitudes we hold toward them, and the actions by which we treat them tell us so much about our understanding of Christianity, the heart of the Lord Jesus, and our own walks as Christians.
The way, the only way, to view, think, and treat other Christians is by today’s devotion theme – we are family. As Christians, God has blessed, chosen, and adopted us into His forever family through the Lord Jesus – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-5). Don’t lose sight how God views us.
As family members, we practice this type of love with each other; the type the Lord Jesus always shows to us individually and collectively – “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a). We not only love, but are quick to be kind and forgive one another – always – “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Sadly, the landscape is filled with Christians who allowed hurt feelings, disagreements, and self-centeredness cause strained relationships among Christians. Many churches contain people who have left good churches because of difficult relationships with other Christians. This reflects poorly on the loving Lord Jesus and how the New Testament describes how the church is to be.
Remember, we are family. And just as we are not quick to leave our physical families over difficulties, it should be more so in God’s forever family. With the love of Christ controlling, we can always see and treat other believers as we are – family.
PRAYER: Father, I praise You for such amazing grace that You would choose me to be in Your forever family.
REFLECTION: Always treat all Christians, even difficult ones, even those who hurt us, as they are – family.