At times, my 6 & 8 year olds are shockingly similar. There are moments when I hear them talking in another room that I have to really focus to tell them apart. When sorting laundry, I can never tell their socks apart and the list could go on and on! But a few mornings ago I found myself over hearing a conversation that my wife was having with them both. They were each packing their lunch boxes and my wife said to my daughter, “Kailyn, you have to pack something in your lunch box besides fruit.” Serioulsy, she had strawberries, grapes, apples and some other things that I would never touch. My daughter loves fruit! As for my son, in the same breath and in what seemed to be one continued sentence from my wife’s conversation with my daughter, she turned to Shae and said, “Shae, if I put this apple sauce in your lunch box are you going to throw it away again? This is the child that we have to force to eat anything healthy! The two little people that live in my house have so much in common with each other that at times they seem to be the same person yet in almost the same breath I realize how different from each other they really are. That might explain the disagreements I also hear in the other room, in the car and in the backyard from time to time.

It is really no different in the church. We are all made in the image of God therefore it would only make sense that we have so many things in common with one another. From similar hair styles, clothing choices, musical styles and food preferences we all have many things in common. In spite of the common ground of God’s Salvation and Grace that we all stand on we may find ourselves at times realizing that there are characteristics, preferences and issues that can really set us apart. But in these times, regardless of your age we all need to be reminded in our times of “differing opinions” the challenge that we are given in God’s Word.

^“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2 NIV

 

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10 NIV

 

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 NIV