Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Devotional Thought for Today: It is easy to judge anyone – there are enough faults to go around…seeing someone only through my particular paradigms. But…living each day and seeing everyone as a child of God, created in His image, while hard to do many times, is what I think we are called to do. Can we see the homeless…those of different color…those of different ethnicity…those of different political persuasion…those who prefer a different kind of music…those who don’t dress the same as I…you get the point…those different from myself…those different from you. Seeing individuals first as children of God rather than some other criteria can help me to be more compassionate…more responsive…less judgmental and prejudiced. What about you?
First Pres Joliet 
July 27, 2015 at 7:49 am
If we are all created in the image of God, and if God calls all his creation good, then even those who are not in agreement with our individual likes and dislikes are good too. I think back to Micah’s long list of types of people that God likes and loves. God loves us all the same, but the true question is do we return the favor and love Him back?
The part I struggle with though is God finding those who murder…those who are terrorists…if God loves all His creation and calls it good, how does He still love and find good those people who commit crimes of hate?
July 27, 2015 at 8:18 am
That’s a great question Matt and I believe the answer lies in the reality that God’s love and wrath cannot be separated. I believe one of our greatest “church problems” today is a lopsided view of God…specially, allowing our emphasis to only be that “God is love”. God, as made real by Jesus, expects transformation too. If it is possible to be simplistic here…God loves the person but hates the sin. Said a little differently, it’s why I think John 1:14 is so important…God came to this world in Jesus because he wanted to show us both grace and truth…we love the grace part – the truth part is a tougher pill to swallow.
July 27, 2015 at 7:49 am
Our bias should be, regardless of the socio-economic, ethnic, political, musical, clothing style, and so on situation is, to pursue and promote the truths about them. We, as Christians, worship a God that is both the embodiment and author of what is true (Num. 23:19, Deut. 32:4, Job 37:14-16, Zech. 8:17, Jn. 17:17, Eph. 4:25, Col. 3:9-10) and wise (Job 9:4, 12:13, Ps. 104:24, Prov. 3:5-6, 9:10, Rom. 11:33, 16:27, 2 Cor. 12:7-10, 1 Pet. 4:19). When someone speaks the truth or makes wise choices, I’m confident these are divinely endorsed regardless of their religious affiliation.