The Least of TheseSample

Why do we have disabilities and discrimination?

God’s original creation was perfect – no disease, heartache, or disabilities. We were made in God’s image, and all creation reflected and complimented us as God’s special creation. Read this wonderful story in Genesis 1 and 2.

Then sin entered the world through our original parents’ selfish choices, and we all fell into the downward spiral of decay and disease. Rather than destroying everything and starting over, God decided to use our weaknesses and troubles to draw us back to Himself, and He designed an exciting plan for redemption and restoration, brought to fruition in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes in our arrogance, insecurity, and selfishness, we think we will feel better about ourselves when we put someone else down. It never works, but discrimination is a universal problem. In every culture, people tend to be separated in one way or another; and the wealthy and powerful almost always lord it over the weak and the poor.

If we want to see all things made right, we must learn the fear of the Lord. The Bible says in many places that “the fear of (being obsessed with and consumed with) the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom. See Psalm 111:10 for an example. The fear of the Lord leads us to see ourselves and the world as God sees in Him every person, regardless of status, power, class, wealth, color, ethnicity, health, or disability; is made in His image and is special. James said in James 2:1-3 that if we treat a rich person and a poor person differently, we are evil. One lady said it beautifully “Don’t trample on the daisies (little unimportant people) while you’re reaching for the dahlias (important and influential people).

According to Galatians 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Jesus quoted from Isaiah confirming His mission to restore dignity to those whom society has dismissed; Isaiah 61:1-3,

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Reflection: Jesus Christ came to restore us and give us eternal hope, and that hope is for you and me. Do you consider yourself one of “the least of these”? Little is much when God is in it! In Jesus Christ, nothing is impossible.