Divine DNA
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven . . .”
—
Isn’t it interesting how members of the same family look alike? Do you look like someone else in your family? I resemble my grandfather. I inherited his genes – his DNA. That’s the thing about genetics – DNA is passed from one generation to the next.
Families also pass along their values from one generation to the next. Habits and mannerisms are picked up by children and continued throughout their lifetime. Behaviors and values of the parents often become behaviors and values of the child.
In my blessing at the end of worship I always say “you are God’s beloved child.” You were created in the image of God. You have the spiritual characteristics of God. Each person is created in the likeness of God, with God’s DNA. The essence of God.
Isn’t it amazing that we are made in the likeness of God! Just like I have my grandfather’s hair – or lack thereof – I have the essence of God within me. So do you. Every person on this earth carries the essence of God, God’s divine DNA.
God is spirit, and we all carry spiritual characteristics of God. God is love, and we carry the capacity to love as God loves. The central truth of our existence is that we are God’s beloved daughters and sons. God knows each one of us and calls us by name. Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
You are God’s child. You carry God’s DNA, the essence of God. No matter what happens in your life, you are God’s beloved child and nobody can take that away from you.
But, here’s the hard part – your neighbor is also God’s beloved, and so is your enemy. The person who offends or ignores you is also God’s beloved child. They too carry God’s DNA.
Throughout his teaching Jesus lifted the Hebrew law to a higher level. He often taught by saying, “you have heard it said,” referring to the Hebrew law, then he added, “but I say to you,” amplifying the law by insisting the law guides our inner attitudes as much as our outer actions.
You see, Jesus took a simple commandment like “love your neighbor,” and taught us to change not only how we act toward our neighbor, but how we feel about that neighbor. Jesus taught us think and act as one of God’s family, having the values of the family of God – God’s family values.
In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus amplified the law to include even our attitudes. To have God’s DNA means you not only refrain from retaliation against those who hurt you, it means to actually love them and pray for them.
I don’t know about you – but that’s really hard for me to do. Only Jesus, living in me and through me can love and pray for this person.
To be a child of God, to be in the family of God, is to allow the essence of God, that divine DNA that is within every person, to completely change everything you think, say, or do. As Paul said in Romans, you are to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
You are God’s beloved child. God’s divine DNA is in you. So, let your life reveal the likeness of God. Let the values of God’s family, the values of love, be in all you think, say, and do. Allow Jesus to completely change your attitudes as well as your actions. Become God’s Beloved Child by practicing the values of God’s family.
To be a child of God, is to allow the essence of God, that God-like divine DNA in each person, to transform everything you think, say, or do. Be merciful as God is merciful, because you are God’s beloved child, with God’s divine DNA. Be holy as God is holy, because God’s love is who you are.
Greg Smith
Legacy Ministry for Older Adults