“Our greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our differences; our greatest weakness is our failure to embrace them.” – Judith Henderson
There is nothing that aggravates me more than one’s intolerance of another human being. Have you ever been hated just because you are whom God made you to be? That has got to one of the cruelest human acts I can think of. We constantly hear about the horrid details of bullying in schools or through social media. Children and teens have gone so far as suicide they could no longer cope with the unrelenting abuse and attacks of their being. And it doesn’t get better as you get older either. There isn’t an office in business that is without its share of office politics, cliques, and gossiping. Worst of all, there continues to be an underlying tone of intolerance world-wide of different races and religions creating multitudes of injustice, murders and hate crimes. Intolerance is a huge problem, and the problem starts with each and every one of us.
We’re all guilty of raising an eyebrow at the woman walking the street corner, the drug addict or alcoholic making a scene, or the homeless man begging for money. Or maybe you roll your eyes when you encounter people of a certain race or religion and are annoyed by the way they speak, drive, walk or even how they generally interact with others. We already have a pre-conceived notion about this person based on our own personal belief system, and we decide we don’t like them at all; and so it begins. It is much easier to judge and condemn than it is to understand and love. It’s important to understand the “why” in why person is a certain way. If you only took the time to listen to their stories, sometimes filled with tears and shame, you would be ashamed of yourself for not offering these people anything less than sincere compassion. Replace your judgements and criticism with love and acceptance, and you will reap the benefits of doing this. The results will not only bring you inner-peace, but also a moment of peace to the poor souls who are so deserving of it as well.
God sometimes puts different and sometimes difficult people in your life to challenge you, to chisel away at you and make you more like Jesus. Let’s face it - people are going to get on your nerves. People are going to annoy the heck out of you and there are going to be people you just completely dislike altogether. All I ask is that you think twice about what kind of energy and attitude you are expressing in these situations, and ask yourself if you are being intolerant.
When you encounter someone who you find difficult to accept as they are, replace your judgements and criticisms with love and acceptance. Pray for them. Let go of your idea of how people should be and accept them as they are. Acceptance of others brings you an inner-peace and tranquillity, instead of anger and resentment. Poor, sick, gay, straight, black, white, Jew, Muslim, the sinful, the broken, those on the wrong side of the tracks – love them all with the boundary-breaking love of Christ. If we all could only follow His example and love others like He did, there truly would be peace in our hearts, and in this world.
Love does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 1 Corinthians 13:6
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