Week 21 Devotional | Diversity and Inclusion

Cliques and the division that they cause are a quick way to separate teams. Great teams have great cultures, and great cultures are inclusive cultures where everybody feels like they belong, valued, and safe. When you have teams that are divided, they are more likely to break down when they face adversity, but when teams are together and invest in each other, they have what they need to fight through any storm, together.

Diversity is the variety that makes up a team or community. Inclusion is how much the team and the community feel like they belong, valued, safe, and included. Most of our communities are growing more and more diverse, and it is important and valuable to find ways to use that diversity as a strength. When you have people on the team who look and think differently and have different skill-sets, you can avoid groupthink and find ways to maximize what each teammate brings.

Plus, recognizing and appreciating diversity and inclusion is Biblical. In Matthew, chapter 22, the Pharisees got together after hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, and one of them, an expert in the law, asked Him, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as [you love] yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Jesus explicitly says that our two jobs in this life are to love God and love each other. He doesn't say to love some neighbors and not other neighbors, but to love your neighbors. Love all people. After His resurrection, Jesus met with the disciples on the mountain in Galilee where Jesus told them to go in Matthew 28:18, and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Earth and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you." Jesus didn't say to only go to certain people in certain neighborhoods, or certain countries, or of certain religions, beliefs, or faiths. Jesus told the disciples to go to ALL nations.

In Colossians 1:16-17, Paul wrote, "By him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether those or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him."

In Romans 12:16, Paul wrote, "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight."

There are many more verses in the Bible like these. If we want to be true followers of Christ, we are called to love God and love each other. We must know and believe that all things were created by God, and we are to live in harmony with each other, not thinking that we are better than anybody, but loving and taking care of each other.

This Week

1 - Love God and tell Him that you love Him through prayer and through your actions.

2 - Find friends, teammates, and people that you can serve. Serving others is one way that we can show love. Find one way, every day, to do something good for someone else so that in you, they may see the love of Jesus.

For a Google Doc version of this, click here: Week 21 Devotional

References

“100 Bible Verses about Diversity.” What Does the Bible Say About Diversity?, www.openbible.info/topics/diversity.