You Belong by Pete Briscoeنموونە

Seeing Others as God Does

Families are like fudge—mostly sweet with a few nuts. — Author Unknown

If you don’t believe in ghosts, you’ve never been to a family reunion. — Ashleigh Brilliant

Leave it to brothers and sisters to bring on plenty of embarrassment. When our daughter Annika was in middle school, her older brother would yell out of the van, shortly after she was dropped off at school, “I love you Annika, and Jesus does too!” He was trying to embarrass her, and, each morning, it worked.

God’s family is no different—partly because we are all so different, partly because we really pull some swift ones sometimes… legit mess-ups that give plenty of reason to hang our heads and walk away in shame. Yeah, families can be embarrassing, but only if we look at each other from an earthly perspective. When we see ourselves and each other from God’s perspective, it’s totally different.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:10-11)

Jesus calls us brothers and sisters, and never for an instant is He embarrassed by us.

Is that an act of God’s grace or what? No doubt about it: Every family has its share of nuts and its share of ghosts. God’s family is no different—and God never hid that fact throughout Scripture. The requirement for belonging has never been our performance. We have been perfected through His suffering; we are holy because of who we are in Him.

Oh God, check my heart on this one. Am I embarrassed by my brothers and sisters? Have I done things to embarrass them? Lord, by Your grace and the power of Your Spirit in my spirit, give me the willingness and ability to boldly embrace my siblings in Christ, calling them “brothers and sisters” (no matter how many ghosts they have). And thanks for forgiving me of those times when I’m the “nut” who does the embarrassing stuff around my family. Amen.