What We Have In Common

Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

“Mom, we’re basically twins,” Elise’s voice bubbled from the backseat of the car. “We both like pink, unicorns, and Dork Diaries. We have so much in common!”

Just a few hours earlier, Elise had been feeling a little differently. Elise had joined Girl Scouts a few weeks earlier, two months later than everyone else. As the newest member of the troop, she was excited to join, but felt anxious about what the other girls—who had the benefit of several meetings together already—would think about her. Would they have things to talk about?

Now, driving home, Elise realized she’d been worried for no reason. Each of the girls had spent time talking about themselves in order to find out what interests they shared. She was excited to realize she and some of the other girls were much more similar than she originally thought.

When it comes to friendship, it can be easy to focus on what we don’t have in common instead of what we do. Our hair or clothes may look different, our personalities may be different, or we may have different interests that appeal to us. Of course, we want to celebrate what makes us unique—but sometimes, we can use our differences as an excuse not to seek friendship with others.

If our friends are Christians, we’ll always have our faith in Jesus as something to build a friendship on. The Bible reminds us that we should accept each other just like Christ accepted us. But even if someone doesn’t believe the same things we do, we can focus on what we do have in common. When we focus on the characteristics or interests that bring us together rather than the ones that separate us, we often may find—as Elise did—that we have more in common than we thought we did.

Things to Think About

• Have you ever dismissed a potential friend as someone too “different” from you, only to find out later that you actually had a lot in common with that person? Have you ever been dismissed in that way?
• What do you think it means to accept others the way that Christ has accepted us?

DAILY ACT OF FRIENDSHIP

Make a list of all the things you have in common with a friend. Tell that person why you’re glad you have those characteristics or interests in common.