Same House, Different Rocking Chairs

Mercy sakes alive, friend, I’m mighty glad you found your way up the flower lined path to this ol’ front porch. Push that ol’ screen door open wide, claim whichever ol’ rocker ain’t squeakin’ like a lil’ field mouse in a biscuit tin, and settle yourself down. Folks are peculiar creatures. Put six people around one supper table and you’ll likely get seven opinions before the cornbread makes one trip around. Yet, Romans 12:10 says, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Apparently, God ain’t never required sameness before He commanded love.

That’s mighty good news because some of the people God gives us can see the world from a fence post we wouldn’t even dare to climb with somebody else’s ladder.

Real Christian love don’t say, “Become more like me, and then I’ll make room for you.” It says, “Jesus made room for me, so I can make room for you.”

1 Peter 3:8 tells us, “Be like minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” Being like-minded don’t mean matching personalities, preferences, politics, backgrounds, or opinions. It means downright sharin’ the heart of Christ.

Sometimes the person that gits to rattlin’ your patience like an ol’ possum rummagin’ through metal trash cans after midnight is the very person God uses to uncover pride, grow compassion, and teach you grace.

Love plum listens before hollerin’. Love sho’-nuff’ honors before judgin’. Love sho’-nuff remembers that everybody sittin’ around God’s table arrived there by grace.

Father, teach me to love beyond preference and personality. Help me honor people when we disagree, listen with humility, and extend the same grace You have shown me. Use the difficult relationships in my life to make me gentler, wiser, and more like Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Alright then, friend, the porch light’s still burnin’, but daylight’s got places for you to be goin’. So, step on out there carryin’ some grace with you before somebody’s opinion jumps out of the bushes like a startled lil’ ol’ quail and ruffles your feathers. You don’t have to climb every tree just because an ol’ raccoon is makin’ noise in it. Keep your heart real soft, your words real kind, and your pride on a mighty short leash. There’s room in God’s house for different kinds of rockin’ chairs as long as love keeps everybody sittin’ near to each other.

With joy,

Gwen