Today’s Word of Encouragement comes from my good friend and colleague Hamish Thomson pastor of the Abundant Life Church here in Wellington. He writes;
I’m not normally into pop-up stores, to me they’re like a 21st-century version of a shady guy in a long trench coat selling cheap watches, but there is an exception to that.
Increasingly around the world, there are these ‘pop-up’ libraries, only instead of borrowing a book you ‘borrow’ a person to listen to their life story for 20-30 minutes. Each person in these human libraries has a title like ‘Unemployed’ or ‘Refugee’ or ‘Bipolar’ or ‘P.O.W’ etc and the aim is to help break down prejudices as people listen to the stories of people who they may otherwise never talk too.
As much as I love the concept of these Human Libraries, the fact that we need them as a tool to help break down prejudice and stereotypes suggests that somehow, we’ve forgotten the Golden Rule: treat others as you want to be treated (see Matthew 7:12).
You see, in the growing stresses of our society, I wonder if more and more we are hiding behind our sense of busyness as a way of masking our fears.
I get that society has become incredibly tribal and divisive, and I understand the insecurities that can generate.
Yet unless we take the first step and treat others as we want to be treated, nothing changes! Walls stay up, prejudices flourish, and suspicions abound.
So let’s embrace the Golden Rule more fully than ever. Cross the street and get to know your neighbour. Smile at those who are different to you. Listen to those who push back against you in order to try and understand their story – the chances are it’s like yours and mine; characterised by hurts, disappointments, anxiety and rejection. Let’s choose to step out of our fears and open ourselves up to others.
Let’s become books that others read that point to HOPE. That point to Jesus!
For “hope is like an anchor and our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life. But unlike an anchor, it does not hold us back.” (Charles R. Swindoll)
The thing is, God knows that we all struggle with finding and holding onto hope. When we are facing tests of faith, even the strongest of us can find it a challenge to find hope.
So, we need to constantly remind ourselves and those around us that in Christ we can find Hope, and so much more.
For our hope should be built on nothing less than His name and His righteousness 🙂
In closing “I pray that God will open your minds to see his truth. Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.”
Ephesians 1:18 (Easy-to-Read Version)
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