It seems as if each time you turn on the news nowadays, you're greeted with a heartbreaking story. All across the world crimes of hate and discrimination are being carried out. It is hard to understand why this happens, but it is important to remember that this isn't what God wants. God wants us to be accepting and loving to people of every gender, race, and ethnicity. Here are some verses that show just that:
1. 1 Samuel 16:7.
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'"
This verse is very clear: it is not the appearance of the person that matters, but who that person is. The Lord does not want us to judge others based on their physical appearances, but by how they live. He sees past the color of a person's skin, He sees past it all, and He wants us to do the same.
2. Romans 15:7.
"Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."
Again, the message is clear: we are called to accept others and welcome them into the kingdom of God. We were not sent to pass judgement, we were sent to spread love and the word of God. We were not sent to spread hate.
3. Proverbs 21:3.
"To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice."
Even more than sacrifice, God calls for us to be righteous and just. What is more just and right than the love and acceptance of people from all walks of life? He is not asking for a sacrifice; He is asking for us to do the right thing. However, in understanding this, one might see that to do so is sometimes more difficult than sacrifice.
4. Acts 10:34-35.
"Opening his mouth, Peter said, 'I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.'"
"God is not one to show partiality." To God, we are all equal. We are all His people, and those who fear and do right by Him are all welcomed as such. To Him there is no race, ethnicity, or gender that is better or worse than another. We are all welcomed and loved by Him in the same way, so why is it so hard for us to do the same?
5. Isaiah 56:6-7.
"And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
The most recent case in which I can think to apply this verse to is the Syrian refugee crisis. So many have cast out or even refused these people in their time of need, but listen to what God has to say: God's kingdom is a house of all nations; there is no dividing factor, yet here is Earth that is all we see. It is so easy and comforting to be able to separate people based on characteristics beyond their control. Why? Why cast out the very people who God says He will welcome into his house, whose offerings He willingly accepts?
6. Luke 6:13.
"Do to others as you would have them do to you."
There is not much to say about this verse other than to state that it is clear that while commonly quoted, it is often overlooked or ignored when it comes to putting it to use.
7. John 13:34-35.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
"As I have loved you, so you must love one another." That seems simple enough, doesn't it? So why is that we see tragedies such as the shooting in Orlando? It was not love that ended the lives of 49 innocent people. There is a problem here in America and across the world. We are lacking the love that God calls us to show one another. He doesn't say "love those who look just like you," or "love everyone...except gays." He calls us to love one another as He loves us: unconditionally and wholeheartedly.
8. Matthew 5:44-45.
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
In Matthew 5:44-45 God tells us to love even our enemies. He does not tell us to hate those who are against us, He tells us to love and pray for them. He asks us to trust in His plan. He does not tell us to take matters into our own hands and punish our enemies. Above all, His message in this verse is that even in the case of our enemies, we are to show love.
9. 1 John 3:15.
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."
Here we see hatred compared to murder, which is not a stretch when it comes to imagining, as we have seen absolutely atrocious and senseless hate crimes in recent weeks. God does not call us to hate, but to love. If you desire eternal life, you must rid your heart of hate.
10. 1 John 4:8.
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
We cannot claim to know God if we do not love. It is that simple. With hate in our hearts there is no room for Him.
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If this is all beginning to sound repetitive, it's because it is. God's message of love and acceptance is clear. So why are we ignoring it? How can we claim to be followers of Christ when we ignore something so crucial? Is this what we want Christianity to represent? A religion of strict constructs where if a person does not fit a manipulated definition of Christ's message they are not accepted? I'm doing my best to love and accept those similar to me as well as those vastly different, because that is what we are called to do, and that is what I tell people Christianity is.
