Questions that we are asking ourselves these days:
How often have I not commented on racial jokes or stereotypes because I don't like to be confrontational? How often have I in fact joined in because there was no one of color there to hear it, so what did it matter? How much have I allowed my heart to be hardened to the hurt of others? Did I dismiss hurt because it wasn't mine and I couldn't understand it? Did I stick my head in the sand because it didn't affect me? Have I avoided the issue because my opinion wasn't popular in certain circles?
This is the question that I believe we must all ask --> Have I been good to my brothers and sisters: both white and of color?
Goodness is a fruit of the spirit. Goodness a lot of times gets lumped in with gentleness and kindness because we don't always know how to differentiate them. What I have come to understand from my reading and prayer is that goodness is seeing the need of others and providing what we can.
Jesus, our ultimate example of what goodness looks, I believe shows it so well in a story out of the book of Luke chapter 8. This is the story of the woman with a bleeding disorder.
Jesus is walking in a crowd with many, many people, but when
this woman, who’s been bleeding for 12 years touches him to get healing, he
knows someone has touched him and power has left him. She finally comes forward and says it was me and
I was instantly healed. And in verse 48 it
says “Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Jesus’ goodness is not what heals her, he says that her faith
has healed her.
His goodness rests in the way that Jesus stood up for
her. He saw her when no one else
did.
He challenged the way that people saw her and that healed
more than her body; it healed her heart.
People so desperately
want to be acknowledged. They want
someone to say I see your struggle, I see your hard work, and I believe that
your needs are worth meeting.
So to be good, we have to look beyond ourselves and truly see
other’s needs and then meet the needs that we can.
Right now the need of the black community needs to be seen. Truly seen.
They need us to see the hurt they have faced. They need us to empathize with the pain they
have felt. They need us to acknowledge
the loss they have endured. Not in a way
that says we are not human too. Not in a
way that says white people haven’t had hurt too. Not in a way that says we don’t
matter. But in a way that is good. A way that sees and looks beyond ourselves.
It’s not about us. It’s
about others. That was Jesus’
message. Love others. Be good to others. Be gentle with others. Be kind to others. Be patient with others. Be joyful for others.
I want you to get one person in your mind right now. Someone you know is in need. It could be that they are sick. It could be that they need financial help, or
spiritual help. Maybe they are
lonely. Maybe they are going through a
divorce. Maybe their child has walked
away from the faith. Maybe they are new
in town and have no idea where to get a good cup of coffee. Maybe they have a different skin color than
you, and they have been hurt.
Now I want you to think about what you can do to meet that
need. Do you have a little extra cash
flow? Do you have time that you can go
and visit? Do you have the heart to
share the gospel with them? Do you have
the love to pray, earnestly for their child? Can you be the person in their life that
says, “I see you. I hear you. Let’s be friends that show this world that we
can share this life in love and respect.”
How can you help?
That’s real goodness.
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