"And again I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself.
For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just?"
Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-26
I like this short little parable. I think it is a good reminder of who we are. Sons and daughters of God. We hear a lot in the scriptures about loving our neighbors, and treating them as we would like to be treated... but how often are we really esteeming each other as ourselves? Our brothers and sisters are all around us... not just the people in our immediate family, but our friends, our coworkers, our schoolmates. That lady at the grocery store. The guy on the street. People who believe differently than we do... people of other nations, religions, and political persuasions. People who do things that we find abhorrent. ALL of these people are our brothers and sisters, and worthy of our esteem as humans and equals.
I wonder what God thinks sometimes looking down at his children, some of whom are clothed in robes, and some in rags. Does he think that we're lost and we'll never get it? :) ... He is going to fix it eventually, and he will right every wrong, including the ones that we do. But until that time, let's practice being the people that we need to be. Let's be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Let's respect and love the people around us, whoever they are, whatever they believe, and however they live. God loves them. Even if we don't, yet, let's find out why, and take the first steps towards understanding.
For what man among you having twelve sons, and is no respecter of them, and they serve him obediently, and he saith unto the one: Be thou clothed in robes and sit thou here; and to the other: Be thou clothed in rags and sit thou there—and looketh upon his sons and saith I am just?"
Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-26
I like this short little parable. I think it is a good reminder of who we are. Sons and daughters of God. We hear a lot in the scriptures about loving our neighbors, and treating them as we would like to be treated... but how often are we really esteeming each other as ourselves? Our brothers and sisters are all around us... not just the people in our immediate family, but our friends, our coworkers, our schoolmates. That lady at the grocery store. The guy on the street. People who believe differently than we do... people of other nations, religions, and political persuasions. People who do things that we find abhorrent. ALL of these people are our brothers and sisters, and worthy of our esteem as humans and equals.
I wonder what God thinks sometimes looking down at his children, some of whom are clothed in robes, and some in rags. Does he think that we're lost and we'll never get it? :) ... He is going to fix it eventually, and he will right every wrong, including the ones that we do. But until that time, let's practice being the people that we need to be. Let's be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Let's respect and love the people around us, whoever they are, whatever they believe, and however they live. God loves them. Even if we don't, yet, let's find out why, and take the first steps towards understanding.
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