My family feels very divided. The division I feel in my family, I believe, many families are feeling here in the US. The United States currently feels like the Divided States.
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
Mark 3:24
I don’t know how we bridge this gap. If we can’t mend these divisions in our own families how can we come together as a Nation and solve the issues we are facing. This is a dark place we are in.
“Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness.”
1 John 2:9
It’s a hard road ahead. We are blinded by either hate or our own sense of what is right. It will take humility and compassion to over come this division. We can not rely on our own understanding. We need to allow ourselves to hear the other side.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely;”
Proverbs 3:5
You may find you are not able to concede to the others opinion. That it goes against your values or you just can’t find any common ground. Here I urge you to love your enemy.
““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”
Matthew 5:43-45
Loving your enemy does not mean letting them think they are right. It does mean you see them. This is a beautiful gesture that you can give someone you disagree with. In a world where most feel they are not heard, seen or that they matter you can show them they are heard, seen and matter.
In the end, is it better your enemy believes you are right or that they are loved? Love is the key to change. I will leave you with this description of love.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
No matter how sure we are about our positions and opinions, we are human and our perspective and perception is limited. We see in part, love allows all voices and makes us whole. Love makes us United again.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
1 Corinthians 13:8-10