Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9

Dear God, I wish we could stop assuming the worst in others. Man, Satan is good at this. He is so good at dividing us.

But Peter is right here. We should sympathize with each other. We should love others as brothers and sisters. We should be tender hearted. We should be humble. We should NOT repay evil for evil. We should NOT retaliate with insults when people insult us. We should bless others who curse us.

Now I need to change all of the “we’s” above to “I’s.” This is for Christians as a group, but it’s for me personally as well. I can be too dismissive of other people. I can judge way too easily. In short, I can be as much a part of the problem as anyone.

Father, whether someone is as bad as I am wont to believe or not, I should still show them love. The worst person I know should feel as much love from me as the best person I know. Why? Because that’s how you love me. It’s how you love them. And I am yours. I am your ambassador. Help me to recognize these attitudes in myself and opportunities to love and reject hate in real time so that you might have glory and they might be drawn to you. At the end of the day, I know it will draw me closer to you as well.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen