Galatians 3:26-29 (NLT)

“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

The Apostle Paul starts out by telling the Galatians that they “are all children of God….” When I think of children, I think of innocence. When I was a child, I went door to door looking for another child to play with.  I didn’t come with a list of prerequisites. I didn’t ask about their religious beliefs, their economic standing. Nor did I worry about what color they were. I was just looking for someone to say yes, I am a child and I want to play.

Unity is a key component of our faith and to the success of any entity or country. This principal hold true to large corporations. Large companies must be united, if they are to succeed. Division will find its way to the ears of clients. The desires and identify of each location much take a back seat to those of the larger corporation. If corporations speak in terms of us and them, even between departments, it will cause division and make them weak.

In America, Christianity has been weakened by the divisions among and within denominations. In this scripture, Paul was speaking to Gentiles. These people were shunned by the Jews; separated from God’s temple, strangers to the ways of God. Paul reaches out to them and to us, lettings us know that we are all “children of God (united) through faith in Christ Jesus.”

One of the Greek definitions for “son” is “one who depends upon another.” When we were baptized into our faith, we were “made clean with water.” We are united in the family of God, all dependent upon Him for our salvation, made clean through our baptism in that faith and covered by that united faith, which saves us.

I close with one of the Poems of St. Augustine: #44 NEARING DESPAIR

“O Hope from my youth, Where were you to me And where had you gone away? Had you not created me different Than the beasts and the birds, Making me wiser than they? And yet I was wandering about In a dark and slippery way, Seeking you outside myself And thus not finding the God of my heart. I had gone down Into the depths of the sea And lost faith And despaired of ever finding the truth.” 1 PS 71:5  2 CF PS 10:1

I am a child of God, a son, or daughter of God.

Knowing that, what kind of life should we live?

What actions should we take? How should we speak? How should we act toward one another?

Prayer: God help us remember that we are your sons and daughters, united in our faith in Jesus Christ. Help us to live in the confidence of that faith and live holy lives. Thank you for making us your children. Amen.