The Pride Within Prejudice

Matthew 22:37-40 (NET) – Jesus said to him, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Prejudice has been around for almost as long as there have been people.

When I was a child, prejudice puzzled me.

I wondered how any one group of people could look upon another and somehow feel superior to them.

I witnessed prejudice at an early age.

With God’s help I was able to determine that it had no place in my life.

Being a child, I was also a bit naïve.

I remember thinking at the time that prejudice would surely be gone by the time I grew up.

Sadly, I was wrong.

Half a century has passed and prejudice is still alive and well.

If today’s headlines are any indication, it will be around for some time to come.

Do not get me wrong.

I do not believe that everyone is prejudiced,

I am certain that there are many people who feel as I do that prejudice serves no useful purpose.

I am also certain that many people will disagree.

When it comes to prejudice, I have reached several conclusions.

I honestly believe that some people look down upon others as a way of feeling better about themselves.

Perhaps they too have felt the sting of prejudice and somehow feel better about themselves by thinking themselves superior.

I also believe that prejudice is quite often a learned behavior.

When children see prejudice in those they are supposed to look up to, they could learn to emulate it until it becomes a part of who they are.

Even people who consider themselves Christians can be guilty of prejudice.

That is perhaps the saddest conclusion of all.

Jesus told us what the greatest commandments are.

He told us to love God and love our neighbor.

Let’s be completely blunt and honest.

Prejudice flies in the face of both.

We cannot love our neighbor if we feel that we are superior to him.

We also cannot completely love God if we feel are superior to someone He has made in His image and His likeness.

Someday mankind may learn this.

Hopefully, he will learn this before it is too late.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, April 17, 2015.

I’ll be back here on Friday, April 24, 2015