"Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you."
Jacob 2:17
This is a good summary of how God would like us to treat each other. "Familiar with all" I really like because to me that says that we shouldn't avoid getting to know anyone, or any "type" of person, but that we should become familiar with all types of people, and be willing to learn to see things from others' perspectives. Not that we have to adopt other people's idea or values, but understanding why they believe what they do is important to understanding them, and helps us not to label or treat them like the "other," or as not similar to ourselves, which makes it easy to dehumanize and hate.
The idea of being free with our substance is an important one as well, to teach us humility if nothing else. We get trapped sometimes in thought patterns that make us think that we "deserve" something more than other people, forgetting that we are all beggars before God and are much more alike than we usually want to admit. Helping each other, learning about each other, loving each other as brothers and sisters... these all build good communities, and a good world, and Zion. It helps us to learn a little bit of the compassion and love that God has for us all, and to make better, kinder choices in our lives.
Today, let's work on treating others well, getting to know them, and helping them to be richly blessed, as we are. Let's remember that we are all family.
Jacob 2:17
This is a good summary of how God would like us to treat each other. "Familiar with all" I really like because to me that says that we shouldn't avoid getting to know anyone, or any "type" of person, but that we should become familiar with all types of people, and be willing to learn to see things from others' perspectives. Not that we have to adopt other people's idea or values, but understanding why they believe what they do is important to understanding them, and helps us not to label or treat them like the "other," or as not similar to ourselves, which makes it easy to dehumanize and hate.
The idea of being free with our substance is an important one as well, to teach us humility if nothing else. We get trapped sometimes in thought patterns that make us think that we "deserve" something more than other people, forgetting that we are all beggars before God and are much more alike than we usually want to admit. Helping each other, learning about each other, loving each other as brothers and sisters... these all build good communities, and a good world, and Zion. It helps us to learn a little bit of the compassion and love that God has for us all, and to make better, kinder choices in our lives.
Today, let's work on treating others well, getting to know them, and helping them to be richly blessed, as we are. Let's remember that we are all family.
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