When We Realize We Are Biased

It is surprising how we can be so spiritually blind about certain matters. For a long time, there was an area of my life where I was spiritually blind. For years, I acted contrary to the truth of God’s word. As a teenager, I had bias against one particular tribe in my country. I disliked everything about the people of that tribe, their language and customs. Though their language was widely spoken in the city I was living in, I did not want to speak it. I saw them as a proud people, and I did not want anything to do with them. But now, at age 61, I see this tribe differently. I now understand God wants me to love all humankind as He loves us, and He calls me to relate to everyone in a godly way. God himself loves all humankind so much that He gave Christ to die for us and raise from the dead—not only to save us from death (John 3:16) but also to make us one in Christ. He has broken down the dividing wall between people of different nationalities, races, and tribes, even as the Bible says that in Christ Jesus, there is no Jew, no Greek, but we are all made one in Christ Jesus. I now realize that I missed out on some blessings I could have experienced by being in fellowship with people of this tribe. Today, I do interact with them, and some of these people are a great blessing to me. I realize that as a teenager, I acted in ignorance. Now that I know God loves all humankind, from all races, nationalities, and tribes, I choose to look at all people through the eyes of God, to relate to them and treat them as God would have me do. It will help us all if we begin to look at all humankind as God’s creation and to understand that Christ came to break down the dividing walls. • Enid Adah Nyinomujuni • Do you sometimes feel like you don’t want to relate with people of a different race, nationality, or tribe other than yours? When you get such feelings, do you act according to your feelings? • Have you ever been mistreated because of your ethnicity? How did you respond? • When we realize we’ve done wrong, God invites us to turn around and come to Him (Psalm 139:23-24; Acts 3:17). If you’re not sure how, who is a trusted Christian you can talk to? From one man he [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth. Acts 17:26a (NIV)

Read Verses:

Ephesians 2:11-Ephesians 2:22; Acts:17:17-Acts:17:34; Galatians 3:26-Galatians 3:29