We Are All Equal In God's Eyes

There is no Jew or Greek [Gentile], slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

(Galatians 3:28)

One of the most wonderful things about being a follower of Christ is I am free of class and race distinctions. No one is better than me and I am no more important than anyone else. There is no racial group inferior or superior to any other. In God’s eyes, there is no such thing as race at all. There is only the human race. There is no Russian or American, Israeli or Palestinian either. When I am finally standing in judgement before God, the only thing that will matter is if I submitted my life to Jesus while I was here.

Throughout history, Christians have failed at grasping this concept. In fact, some have used their faith to wreak havoc and destruction on the world. Many times, throughout history, spreading Christianity was the excuse used to colonize and enslave vast parts of the world. Racial superiority and outright greed have always been the driving force behind that violence. Jesus never told his followers to use the sword to take his message of love to the world. If that were so, we would be no better than the Muslims and their use of jihad.

Nowhere do the scriptures instruct us to enslave anyone. Any discrimination against someone with a different skin color by any person, is totally abhorrent to God. It is much worse when those displaying such discriminatory behavior call themselves Christians. We should be reaching across the racial divide, with hands of friendship and love. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. When we resort to racism, we have broken one of Christ’s commands. To love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

The only thing superior about me is the God who indwells my heart. There is nothing about me that would cause me to have a higher status than anyone else. I am just a sinner in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, just as everyone else does. We are all the same, created in the image of God. The trick for me is to remember I’m here to serve Jesus by serving others! Jesus, the creator of the Universe, spent his three years of ministry as a servant for all of humanity. It shouldn't be that hard for me to do the same!

Father, you are the God of all. No matter our nationality, our social status, or our gender, we are of identical worth in your eyes. Give us eyes, Lord, to see each other like you do. You are the constant in the universe because you created everything in it, seen and unseen. As your children, we want to please you in our thoughts and deeds. We are a competitive and prideful people, and so we like to think we’re superior to others, even though we know we’re not. Keep us from treating someone as less important than we are if they are of a different skin color or cultural heritage from our own. Remind us that you love all the people of creation equally, and you are no respecter of persons. Never let us treat someone of the opposite gender as inferior, when we know that we each have a place of importance in the body of Christ. Help us to show the proper respect to all our brothers and sisters, no matter what part of the world they hail from. We are all your children, loved equally by you. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross to save all of us, no matter where we’re from or what we look like. We pray this in his name. Amen!