“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:26

In the Gospel of John, the Bible says that God created everything and nothing that was created was made except through Him. From the biggest of the big to the smallest of the small, it’s all His. It still amazes me to think about how the same God that created everything also took the time to create my soul as well. He made me and cares for me just as His own child. The Bible says that Jesus is the first begotten of the Father, but God made so many more in his image as well. I’m not putting you and I on the same level as Jesus. He is fully man and fully God, but that same God is the father of all and we are all His children in the same family.

He in His infinite wonder didn’t just make one color or one type of person. God is a god of variety. He made all colors, shapes, and sizes of human; none better or worse than another. And just as He cares for one, He cares for us all the same way. This might be a news flash for some people, but God wants us to care for our brothers and sisters with the same love that He cares about them with. That doesn’t sit well with some people and that is the real tragedy.

Like the old saying goes, you can’t pick your relatives. You may not like someone from another part of the city or from another country. Or maybe you happen to have a problem with someone who has a different color of skin or someone from another country. Too bad! Jesus didn’t say love thy neighbors if they look and act like you. Just as a beautiful statue has distinctive marks from its sculptor, so do you and I. In Ephesians 2:10 (NLT), it says that we are God’s masterpieces. A masterpiece is a one of a kind work of art. Look around and see that there is nobody like you in the world that ever was or ever will be. Even my twins, for all of their likenesses, aren’t totally the same. They may look alike, but they have very distinctive personalities. It doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong, it simply means that they are just different. They still love one another. They don’t always see things the same, but that’s a good thing because they get to learn things through another person’s eyes and mindset. The longer they live, the more they realize that they need each other to be truly complete.

We should all take the same stance when it comes to each other, whether you know that other person or not. We may not always see eye to eye, but that’s OK. Life would be so boring if we all looked the same and thought the same. It helps everyone if we speak openly and honestly with people from other walks of life and to listen to their words without prejudice. Let’s face it, God made Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and yes, even atheists. We all hold the same God’s signature on our lives, whether we acknowledge it or not. God’s law and the desire for goodness over evil is written on the hearts of all men and women. Jesus went to the cross for all of us and all of our sins. He didn’t just pick out a few people from the crowd who believed right there and then.

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” Jesus is trying to tell us that we are all of the same Father. And if we recognize that we are in the same family, then we should act for the good of everyone. If you love someone, you want the highest and best thing for them. That best thing is Heaven. How do you and I get there? By have a relationship with Jesus Christ and helping others to do so as well.

None of us are without sin and all are in need of a savior, so don’t be too quick to judge another person. Let God be the judge of their heart and actions. It is God’s job to judge, but our job is to love. We should always help others to know about the perfect love of God through Jesus Christ by showing ourselves as examples of that love. Other people might not accept it, but God doesn’t value them less and neither should we. God has His timetable. We just plant the seed, proclaim the Gospel, and know that God just like any good parent works for the good of His children. All of us.

Next time you find yourself frustrated, angry, or just down right intolerant of another person or their actions, remember that the same God that formed you also made them as well. We all have our faults and all have our burdens, but it is a burden that we were not meant to carry alone. Hand in hand and soul to soul, we are all children in the family of the Most High God.

The answer to the question of ‘did Jesus have brothers and sisters’ is YES! And you are looking right at them when you look at another person. So make sure to treat others and yourself with the dignity and respect deserving of a child of the God Most High. By doing this, you are truly pleasing your Father in Heaven.

God’s blessings to you.

DH