"For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."
2 Nephi 26:33
I like that some specific things are called out here, including race, slavery, gender, and religion. Significantly, even after mentioning those groups, it says that "all" are alike unto God. All as in... all. Wow. :)
Sometimes I think that we leave certain people out of the group that we believe that God loves or cares about. Maybe we leave out murderers or used-car salesmen, or homosexuals, or republicans, or immigrants, or democrats, or prostitutes, or a different religion than we are, or whoever else that we honestly in the moment can't relate to or we feel is destroying the world, or whatever else.
During Christ's life he interacted, I think on purpose in order to set an example, with many people that were pretty universally despised in the society where he grew up. He forgave an adulteress, he brought the gospel to Samaritans, he ate with tax collectors. And today, he *still* interacts with all the despised, wherever they are... wherever *we* are, because we are all despised by somebody. God loves us no matter who we are, and he will talk to us if we reach out to him and he will help us learn of him and draw closer to him.
That isn't to say, of course, that doing whatever we want is the way to get to heaven, or that God is going to embrace our sins. There is still only one path, and it is following Jesus Christ, and we still have to learn to repent. I think that what this verse does mean is that that we should follow Christ's example of love, despite whatever sin or fault we see in another's life. And it does mean that we, despite whatever sins we have committed, are welcome as we take steps to move closer to God and reach out to him for help. He won't drive us away, and if we are his disciples, we won't drive each other away either.
Today, let's love the people around us, and let's come unto God, and rejoice in his love as he teaches us to become better than we are, and let go of things and behaviors and attitudes that are harming us.
2 Nephi 26:33
I like that some specific things are called out here, including race, slavery, gender, and religion. Significantly, even after mentioning those groups, it says that "all" are alike unto God. All as in... all. Wow. :)
Sometimes I think that we leave certain people out of the group that we believe that God loves or cares about. Maybe we leave out murderers or used-car salesmen, or homosexuals, or republicans, or immigrants, or democrats, or prostitutes, or a different religion than we are, or whoever else that we honestly in the moment can't relate to or we feel is destroying the world, or whatever else.
During Christ's life he interacted, I think on purpose in order to set an example, with many people that were pretty universally despised in the society where he grew up. He forgave an adulteress, he brought the gospel to Samaritans, he ate with tax collectors. And today, he *still* interacts with all the despised, wherever they are... wherever *we* are, because we are all despised by somebody. God loves us no matter who we are, and he will talk to us if we reach out to him and he will help us learn of him and draw closer to him.
That isn't to say, of course, that doing whatever we want is the way to get to heaven, or that God is going to embrace our sins. There is still only one path, and it is following Jesus Christ, and we still have to learn to repent. I think that what this verse does mean is that that we should follow Christ's example of love, despite whatever sin or fault we see in another's life. And it does mean that we, despite whatever sins we have committed, are welcome as we take steps to move closer to God and reach out to him for help. He won't drive us away, and if we are his disciples, we won't drive each other away either.
Today, let's love the people around us, and let's come unto God, and rejoice in his love as he teaches us to become better than we are, and let go of things and behaviors and attitudes that are harming us.
Hey, this is a great post!! Thank you for your insights.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. :)
ReplyDelete