Ronny is excited about Christmas celebrations as he goes around distributing gifts to all, especially the poor and needy. When questioned about the reason for his generosity, Ronny answers, “God, generously created the world and gave us responsibility to look after His good creation. And when we separated from the life of God and were lost, in His generosity He entered into our world, born in a manger, to bring us back into loving relationship with Him. God created all human beings equal; he has no favourites. God is Lord of all; lover of all His creation.”
Ronny rejoices that the Bible teaches Jesus Christ came into this world full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The excitement, Ronny says, is that grace comes before truth. When we slip and falter, people generally speak truth and condemn behaviour. They might even become very angry at us. However, since God brings grace comes before truth, acceptance of love takes priority.
As the old saying states, “We love the sinner and not his sin.” Acceptance is not agreement. God loves and accepts us, but also calls us to repent from our sinful ways that rob us of life and peace.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we should be in an environment in which both total acceptance and clear honesty operate. Let us not be afraid of truth; it hurts but heals. Jesus is the Saviour of the world. If we have needs in our personal life we can take them to Christ in faith and receive His gracious embrace of love and truth. Let acceptance of the other be our tribute to God’s love shown in Jesus Christ. For acceptance is the way God treats us, and therefore is the way we are to treat others as well, rich or poor, of whatever race or caste. God loves all equally so should we. In some mysterious way Christ dwells in us. Let us share the generosity of God which we have experienced in Christ Jesus.