While Jesus was walking and talking with people, a man with leprosy approached Him, fell to his knees, and put his face to the ground begging, "Lord if you want to, you can heal me and make me clean." Something amazing happened next. Like it was no big deal, Jesus just reached out and touched the man. Wait a minute, Jesus reached out and touched a man with leprosy? This was not allowed then and now Jesus would be unclean! Besides this man looked really bad and probably was very sick! None of this mattered to Jesus, however. He reached out his hand and said to the man, "I will heal you. Be clean." And right in that moment the leprosy left him.
The message that I want you to take from this story is that it doesn't matter to Jesus what you've done, how you look, or what other people think about you. He made you and He loves you no matter what! Jesus could have chosen to ignore this man, just as others in his community had. The man looked different, was living on the streets, had different beliefs and a horrible disease. Instead, Jesus chose show the man love, compassion and acceptance.
How are you different from your friends and family? In what ways can you show love, compassion and acceptance to someone who looks, acts and believes differently you?
Let Us Pray
Dear God, Thank you for creating us all differently. Help me to show love, kindness and acceptance to those who are different from me. Amen.
