Making Beautiful Music Together?

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in
harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that
together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

 

Have you ever read a scripture that hit you like a bug in the face at 50 miles per hour…on a motorcycle?  This one did…for me,  you see as much as I preach forgiveness and love, their are still isolated pockets in my mind that hold stagnant, ugly, stinkin thinkin…It’s only when the light of the word hits those places that I can find these isolated problems.  On my own, I have discovered, I am fully capable and willing to ignore them.  Which brings me to my point, Number One:  Satan and my flesh will stop at nothing to keep me out of the word.  Number Two:  I can still be judgmental and categorize people instead of loving everyone the same. 

I’d love at this point to say, now let’s move on and hit on you, however this blog is about me…wow…not a lot of fun having to expose yourself to …yourself?  Yep, that’s about the crux of it isn’t it?  God already knows, my friends already know, I am the last one to know.  Last night after the ball game I ran into a person I will not name who approached us about our church and ministry and I felt myself pulling away from them and the conversation, afterwards I ask myself why, and then I realized it was because I didn’t want to be associated with them because of comments I have heard others say about this person….I was and am ashamed of my actions.

It’s real easy to say we love everyone, as long as it’s easy.  It’s when loving someone has a cost attached to it that it becomes difficult.  Yet in this verse Paul is praying for “harmony” between believers.  One of my degrees in this world is Music Education, because of this I understand “harmony” the vertical alignment of pitches.  Harmony is in a nutshell, different notes being played at the same time, and together they make a rich, full, melodic sound.  It’s not that you can’t play alone, but God wants us to play together, in vertical alignment to make one beautiful note…and as we move, we make a beautiful melody!  It’s the differences that will give us fullness, and richness and appreciation for the Father’s wisdom in not making us all alike.  Wouldnt’ that be a dull place to live, a place that never challenged you, never made you think, never made you laugh because you already knew the punch line!

My daughter is a joy in my life, she can be so random and off the wall.  She is so different from my son, a common thing for them at this stage in their life is their fighting…wow, it can really be frustrating for Terrie and me at times.  But the unique thing about their relationship is laughter, they love to make each other laugh.  My favorite thing is to see them dance, or copy the “three amigos” from the movie…they will crack each other up and fall in the floor laughing.  You see, in that moment, they have figured out how to play in harmony…

Can we?

Remember this:  “The shame is not in being human and being imperfect…the shame is knowing your fault and ignoring it”…-Tom Wallace