#BeLikeJesus - Week One - Day Five

By Central Women

Day 5: “Welcome His People In”

All week we have been talking about how Jesus welcomed and how we, daughters of Jesus, can welcome those who Jesus welcomed in and how He welcomes us back if we lose our way.

For the longest time I would always look at new people that I came across and judge them by the way they looked, what they wore, and how they talked. This hindered a lot of possible relationships for me, because I did not welcome them in or love them the way Jesus would.

That at changed when Jesus finally removed the blinders from my eyes and allowed me to see His people through His eyes and not through mine. When this happened, I was able to see beautiful people created in the image of Him and not an image I created of them in my own head.

None of this is easy. Everything Jesus did no one had done before and that was what He intended it to be. So, how can we be more like Him?

“46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:46-48)

In these particularly verses Jesus is closing out the Sermon on the Mount and He calls us to be perfect. Wait what? You might think I cannot be perfect like Jesus is, it is impossible. Perfect in this sense means loving and welcoming everyone in no matter who they are, what they do, or where they are from. All throughout Jesus’ ministry He traveled all over and came across different kinds of people. People from different backgrounds, cultures, and even beliefs.

It is so easy to welcome in people are just like us. People who are the same race as us and especially people who are Christians just like us. Jesus welcomed in people who did not look Him and who did not believe the same way that He did, but that did not stop Him in welcoming them in and loving them.

We might look different than one another talk different, dress different, and even worship different, but are we really different when we look at each other through the eyes of Jesus?

Welcoming others in who do not look like us or believe the same way we do, that should not stop us from being unified in love. When we stop looking at others based on what they look like and what they do and start looking at them as human beings created in the image of God, we then can be perfect just like our Lord and Savior.

• How does it make you to welcome others in who believe differently than you?
• What would it look like in our everyday lives if we saw people through the eyes if Jesus and not our own?
• Write a prayer asking God to show you how you can love and welcome Him others who are different than us.

Jesus,

Thank you for loving us and welcoming us in the way that we are. Where we see brokenness, you see beauty. You are so amazing and the way you love every single person is truly life changing. I pray that you help us see your people through your eyes and not through ours. Help us see the beautiful beings created in your image and not in the image in our head. We strive to be more and more like You, and we cannot do that without You. Everything we do and everyone we love is for You. I pray you use us as lights in this dark world and that we can love and welcome every single person in like You do. We thank you and we love you more than we can bare.

Amen.