THE RAWEST NERVE
James 4:8-10: “Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.”
“Are you racist?” Ms. Busby asked her 3rd-grade class.
“No!” Forrest answered.
Ms. Busby said, “Please raise your hand first, Forrest. Paula, how would you answer?”
Paula looked up with her hand covering her mouth to hush giggling. “What’s ‘racist?’” she asked.
“Racist [RA-sist] means that you hate another who is a different color.” Ms. Busby answered. “People’s skin color varies between very pale to inky black. Often, a group of people with one skin color hate others with a different skin color. That hate is called ‘racist’. Diversity [di-VER-si-tee] represents people coming from lots of different races. Skin color should never divide us.” Ms. Busby stopped explaining when she saw the kids nodding their heads in understanding.
Ms. Busby called Levi, who raised his hand.
“Is this like girls and boys? Everyone knows that girls have kooties.”
Chuckling, Ms. Busby replied, “No,” shaking her head from side to side. “That difference is called a different ‘sex’, not a different race, Levi.” She continued with a serious expression on her face. “Hating people who wear a different skin color is racist. No one is born hating others who look different. That hate is learned behavior.”
“Kooties are serious, Ms. Busby!” Levi insisted. The rest of the class nodded their heads in agreement along with giggling and pointed fingers.
Ms. Busby relented, “Kooties are learned behavior, too. But Kootie hate isn’t deadly like race hate. Let’s heal raw nerves from taking offence from other’s race. Let’s look for ways we can all get along together instead of searching for reasons why we can’t live peaceably.” (Check the lesson linked below).
Take Home Nugget
The devil is thrilled when people hate each other. Only two out of a hundred people admit to being racist. Yet, just as wanting what another has is a sneaky sin that nestles inside people’s hearts, racism could also find a cozy place to hide there.
Don’t our hearts bleed after hearing how our careless talk sounds to others? Don’t our foreheads wrinkle after learning that our attitudes and actions hurt others? That’s when Believers thank Jesus for forgiveness and follow His indwelling Spirit more closely.
People feel important when acknowledging, “We’re not like them—they get on my last nerve!” We enjoy pointing our fingers to others claiming they’re racist…or who have kooties.
Holy Father, humble me to respect others. Enable me to accept and appreciate their differences, I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Adapted from “It’s other People Who Are the Racists” by Pastor Mark Jeske. www.TimeOfGrace.org. September 23, 2017.
J.D. Griffith
For a personal, private lesson experience with our staff
Here’s another eBook by J.D. Griffith:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment