BROADCASTS.com

READ: MATTHEW 20:16; MARK 9:33-37; GALATIANS 5:13-16; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11\n\n\n\nHave you ever been picked on? Or have you made fun of others for being different? In our broken world, this is an all-too-prevalent reality. But here\u2019s the thing. When we pick on others, we\u2019re acting like chickens. Think about it\u2014chickens have a pecking order. The bigger, stronger chickens have the most power and access to food. Any chicken who\u2019s different or appears weaker is at the bottom\u2026and is mercilessly pecked and denied food to show them their assigned place in the system. If a chicken is injured, even if it\u2019s just a small red spot on its neck, when a big chicken sees that hurt, they jab the sore, making it even larger. This should not be.\n\n\n\nHere\u2019s the good news: Jesus turned the pecking order upside down. Jesus is God the Son, and He was willing to give up His place at the top because He loves all of us at the bottom. Philippians 2:6-7 says, \u201cThough he was God\u2026he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.\u201d Jesus lived among us because God wanted to save us from sin and heal all the brokenness sin causes. He was picked on mercilessly, but He was willing to endure all this pain and sorrow and rejection and injustice\u2014for us. Ultimately, He let Himself be killed on a cross, and then He rose again, triumphant over sin and death, all because He loves all of us\u2014people He created to be different from one another.\n\n\n\nBecause of Jesus, we don\u2019t have to follow the pecking order anymore. Chickens fight because they think they need to prove their strength and survive. Similarly, humans act out of selfishness and fear, taking others down to try to push ourselves up. But since Jesus humbled Himself to flip the pecking order, we can trust Him with all our needs and fears, and we are free to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can work together and take care of each other. With our differences, we can glorify our good Creator. We can listen to one another and work to set up systems in our communities that reflect the beauty of the differences we have as people who bear God\u2019s image (Genesis 1:27). And we can look forward to the day Jesus, our just God, will return and restore His creation, abolishing the pecking order for good. \u2022 A. W. Smith\n\n\n\n\u2022 How have others picked on you? How have you picked on others? Jesus invites us to come to Him with all our hurts and sins. He forgives our wrongdoing, touches our hurting places with His love, reminds us of what is true about us, and guides us in how to move forward in love. (If you or someone you know is being bullied, who are trusted adults you could reach out to for help?)\n\n\n\nFor the whole law can be summed up in this one command: \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d Galatians 5:14 (NLT)