One Big Family – Our Shared Identity in Christ

For this week’s devotion, I wanted to include one of my favorite poems: Human Family by Maya Angelou.

I note the obvious differences
In the human family.
Some of us are serious,
Some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
As true profundity,
And others claim they really live
The real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
Can confuse, bemuse, delight,
Brown and pink and beige and purple,
Tan and blue and white.

I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
And stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world
Not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
Called Jane and Mary Jane,
But I’ve not seen any two
Who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
Although their features jibe,
And lovers think quite different thoughts
While lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,
We weep on England’s moors,
And laugh and moan in Guinea,
And thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
Are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
In major we’re the same.

I note the obvious differences
Between each sort and type,
But we are more alike, my friends,
Than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
Than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
Than we are unalike.

The pastor at my church recently said that all who believe in Him and have a relationship with Him are children of God. However, even if you don’t believe in Christ, He is endlessly striving to know you and have a relationship with you. His wish is for everyone to be children of God, for all of us to be a part of this big family.

Romans 12:4-5 ESV says, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

Those who follow Christ are all one big family under Christ. I feel like that’s easy to forget. We can get so wrapped up in our differences, that we forget how similar we are. Endless opinions, beliefs, political orientations, etc. divide us and create tension in our relationships when we disagree with others. However, the most important thing about us is that our true identity is a daughter or son of Christ, and in that way, we are very similar. It may not always be easy to hold this perspective and remember this when you have every reason to not like someone, but just remember what you have in common at the end of the day.