The Color of Love
A compilation
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Harmony in a world as racked by tension, strife, prejudice, and violence as the one we live in today? Impossible, you might think.
What if a decree was made that all people of every country, race, ethnicity, and creed were to respect everyone else, regardless of their differences? Unfortunately, even if someone had the authority to issue such a mandate, it would never work. Simply put, righteousness cannot be legislated.
So how can prejudice, fear, and distrust be overcome when these things have been ingrained in humankind for centuries? The answer can be summed up in one simple word: love!
The Bible says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”1 If you hate somebody, your interactions with them are likely to breed disagreement and conflict. But if you love them with God’s love, even if they have wronged you, it’s possible to forgive them.
This may sound like a noble aspiration, and realistically, how many people are capable of releasing resentment, hatred, fear, or other deep-seated negative attitudes they may harbor toward individuals or entire groups of people? Most of us lack the resolve and emotional wherewithal to do that.
The good news is that despite our limited human resources, it is still possible for us to love others, regardless of their or our past or background. The key to such love comes from the ultimate source of love, God Himself. The Bible tells us that “God is love.”2 He is the all-knowing and all-powerful Creator of the universe who brought us all into being.
To show us what He is like, He came down to our level by sending His own Son to earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ entire ministry was one of love and truth. He experienced human suffering and had great compassion on the people as He ministered to their spiritual and physical needs. He became one of us.
He taught that all the laws of God depend on one great commandment: to love. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”3
An expert in religion overheard Jesus teaching this and publicly challenged Him by asking, “Who then is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan, in which He clearly showed that our neighbor is anyone who needs our help, regardless of their race, creed, ethnicity, or nationality.4 We can learn to love our neighbors and do our part to bring peace to the world by asking God to give us His love for others.
The Bible says of Jesus, “He Himself is our peace, who has made both [different races] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.”5 The love of God is what brings genuine peace and mutual respect between us.
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”6 And when we align our lives with God’s vision for humanity, we too can look past the differences in other people to see their worth and dignity as unique individuals created in the image of God.
Even when fear, prejudice, and hatred have been ingrained for years, the wonderful love of God can wash it away! Once you personally know that God loves and forgives you, it becomes much easier to love and forgive others. You can then “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”7
When you open your heart to Jesus, He can free you from the bondage of hatred and ill will toward others. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”8
What a wonderful world it could be if we were all race-unconscious, where the only thing we saw when we looked on a person of another ethnic background was God’s love! It is possible, in Jesus, where “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave or free, there is neither male nor female; for you all are one in Christ Jesus.”9—The Family International
God loves all people equally
God’s great love and grace reaches out to all His creations, and He didn’t make some that He loved less and others that He loved more. He didn’t label people of one race, ethnicity, or culture as the most favored, and the rest as less so.
As Christians, we are called to love all people regardless of their background, social standing, or any other characteristic. It is our belief that Jesus died and gave His life for all humankind. He has shown the greatest love possible by dying for each of us.
The fact of the matter is that God loves all humankind equally, and He gave His Son for each one. The Bible tells us that “greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”10 What greater love is there than that?
The blessings and rewards that He bestows upon His children who have entered into a relationship with Him should be distinguished from the love that God has for all His creations and the great yearning He has that they would all come to repentance and all be able to enjoy Him and His heavenly kingdom forever. Jesus died for all His creations, and He wishes that all—each one of them—would come to repentance and salvation. He is not willing that any person should perish, no matter who they are or what their sins are.11
Jesus said, “As My Father has sent Me, even so send I you.”12 His Word says, “Christ left us an example, that we should follow His steps.”13—Maria Fontaine
Published on Anchor March 2021. Read by Jon Marc.
1 Proverbs 10:12.
2 1 John 4:8.
3 Matthew 22:37–40.
4 Luke 10:25–37.
5 Ephesians 2:14.
6 1 Samuel 16:7.
7 Ephesians 4:32 NIV.
8 2 Corinthians 5:17.
9 Galatians 3:28.
10 John 15:13 ESV.
11 2 Peter 3:9.
12 John 20:21.
13 1 Peter 2:21.
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