+DEV+ Lack of Prejudice

Date: May 6, 2009 9:46 PM

Topic: +DEV+     Lack of Prejudice

Lack of Prejudice

Scripture Focus: John 4:1-42

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers” (James 2:8-9).

The kids next door are loud and often cut across the lawn of a senior citizen.

A church member ignores the new members because they have asked for several changes.

Some married couples won’t associate with singles.

Discrimination wears many hats.

In Jesus‚ time one form of prejudice was a lack of dealings between Jews and Samaritans, their half-breed countrymen. But Jesus crossed racial, moral, and social boundaries when He went through Samaria to talk with a woman at the well.

Though she would have been ignored by a Jewish man because she was a Samaritan, a woman, and a prostitute, Jesus reached out to her. He initiated the conversation, keeping it on her interest level and pointing out her sin without condemning her. As a result, she believed in Him as Messiah-Savior and told many others who also believed.

Opportunities for building relationships are all around us if we, like Jesus, refuse to let prejudices of any kind block the way.

Insight: What kinds of people do you look down on or refuse to associate with? Are you willing to confess your prejudices as sin and forsake them?