Reflection
Jesus treated others with respect – He valued them as individuals. To be a Christian, a follower of Christ, and to oppress, despise or exclude others is a contradiction. Christianity should havea humanizing influenceon those who espouse its teachings. There is no room, for prejudice, elitism or disrespect in Christianity. Every Gospel story is a revelation, an invitation to conversion. The way we treat people is a good index of the maturity of our faith and our understanding of its essence. Our faith encourages usto treatothers as God treats us. By looking at Jesus we can learn about and imitate the heart of God.
Prayer
Help me. O Lord, to treat others with the same respect and compassion which you have shown,
Action
I will examine my own views and prejudices and resolve not to act judgmentally or be quick to condemn others. I will not support attitudes and practices that do.
Suggested Reading
Jesus was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? “She replied, “No one, sir.” Then”, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
John 8: 1-11
Who am I to judge?
Pope Francis
What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.
Voltaire
When you remove judgment, what’s left is compassion, not indifference.
Cynthia Bourgeault
Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.
Wayne W. Dyer
If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon.
George Aiken
Unless we are inclusive of everyone, we are inclusive of none.
Mohamed Jemni
There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.
Nathaniel Branden
The soul gives unity to what it looks at with love.
Thomas Carlyle