Today I need to confess that I have an issue and that I'm willing to allow God to peel the layers of my heart. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (NKJV)
Prejudice can stem from many sources, it can be instillled in childhood by a parent, it can come from anger from past atrocities of Native Americans who were forcibally removed from their lands, the frustration of African Americans over slavery, the anguish of Jews because of the Holocaust and the bitter taste that the Civil Rights Movement has left in the mouth of those who lived through it. Prejudice is seen every day in current trends of bigotry against homosexuals, those who are obese and the internal prejudice that has been brewing since 9/11 against Muslims and those of Middle Eastern descent, I can go on and on about prejudice and the racial division of America. Prejudice lurks about in our churches, we don't want to admit it but, in many communities you still have segregation in churches and by denominations. There is prejudice by nationality and even financially, the caste system is not only in India but in America also.
Some are prejudice because of fear (of being a victim of sheer ignorance a the hands of others); anger (over past and even current situations of hate crimes); disappointed (that it is 2011 and we still have not changed in tolerance towards others); bitter (about the injustice that people of color still face in this country). I have to admit that in the past I have boiled at what I have preceived to be racially motivated actions of police officer who in New Jersey were doing racial profiling for years and the killing of Sean Bell in New York some years back the night before his wedding at the hands of undercover cops. I get angry over the senseless incarceration in Paris, Texas of a 14 year old girl for seven years for pushing a teachers assistant; or the cruel, torture and killing of black men as they are dragged to their death by being tied to the back of pick up trucks, oh I can go on but, I won't. I think you get the point.
The issue of prejudice is one that I think we will never understand. Even in the Bible we see some glimpses of prejudice as with Miriam berating Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1); Jonah not wanting to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3); Jesus with the woman of Samaria (John 4:9).
God had to deal with Peter through a vision of his ministering to Gentiles (Acts 10:9-15). Two powerful scriptures are found in verses 28 and 35: "But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (NKJV)
My experiences of racism and those of others who have experienced racism, sexism, bigotry or any other biased behavior does not justify me nor gives me the right to be prejudice or hold everyone else responsible for the actions of a few. Today, I wholeheartedly repent for harboring anger, bitterness, fear and dislike toward anyone because of their actions whether toward me or others. But, I also repent for my thoughts, remarks and actions toward others that have been unkind. I choose to let go of my prejudice and I forgive those who have called me the "n" word, treated me unfairly and unkindly, and have stood in the way of my success. I choose to break the barriers and strongholds that have ensconced me from 1968 until now.
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