Almighty God, thank You for the gift of this life: A gift that we take for granted at times. Empty our minds of selfishness and arrogance so that we can receive Your Word for our lives today. Stop us from placing people into teams of either us or them, the righteous or the Samaritans, the good or the bad. We are so quick to relish in the notion that we are in fellowship because we are believers but we also forget that we are in fellowship because we are also sinners. We forget that our neighbor is anyone beside ourselves because we think too much with our eyes and we are easily fooled. We fail to realize that to love our neighbor as ourselves is to be free. Free from hate, free from guilt, and free from the past. You, Lord, humbled Yourself and stepped into our shoes, into our humanity, to give us the opportunity to reach the full potential of our human condition. So bring our faith back to life in the gift that You have given us: The gift that we are all made new in Christ Jesus. And make the distinction definitive and clear that this is a gift from Almighty God and not a reward that we have earned. As we stand on this side of the resurrection we see that there are no perfect people but there is a perfect God. So let us be still and know that You are Lord of all and that You are with us in the good and in the broken seasons of our lives. Take hold of our lives Lord and make a new legacy where we can stand together united as one family in God’s household where we are all advocates for those whom the world doesn’t love. No matter what doors are locked shut to us in this life there is nothing that can separate us from the everlasting and unyielding love of Almighty God. Send us forth as You sent Your Son so that we can love the One and love the many.