Living in the Spirit
October 30, 2018
Scripture Reading: Ruth 1:1-8
Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. –Ruth 1:6-8
I wonder if Naomi was concerned about the way her daughters-in-law would be treated in Israel when she told them to go back to their families? She needed their help, she obviously cared deeply for them, but no one wants someone they love to be mistreated because of who they are.
We are called by God to love all of God’s children and thus are called to care for them deeply as a loving sibling no matter what. We are well acquainted with the discrimination experienced by people of color or differing ethnicities, people who practice other religions, or the LGBTQ population who are all children of God we are called to love. I fear in the United States the divisiveness of politics has created additional pockets of hate like what the Moabite daughters-in-law faced. The Moabites are traditionally identified as the descendants of Lot, Abrahams nephew, Isaac’s cousin. The new discrimination which we must defeat is called tribalism.
What is it about human nature that seems to demand we measure our self-worth in comparison to others. Jesus never modeled such behavior. If anything, he spent more time with those who had little, the downtrodden, the outcast. Each human was created in the image of God and needs nothing more to establish his or her self-worth. It is imperative that when we encounter another human we first see that image of God in them and treat them as we would treat children of God.
Prayer: Help us to love others as Christ loves us. Amen.