I Have A Dream . . .

I Have a Dream . . .

Bible Blast: Read Galatians 3:26-28

You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke these words in one of the most famous speeches ever written. Born on this day in 1929, he led the famous March on Washington in 1963. Thousands of people from different races and religions gathered to take a stand against prejudice—“hatred or unfair treatment toward a person or group without cause or reason.”^a

Some prejudices are really obvious, like disliking people with a different skin color. But some prejudices aren’t so easy to see. What about a person who thinks poor people aren’t hard workers? Have you ever thought someone with a different accent wasn’t smart? If you have a negative experience with one person, it can be easy to misjudge an entire group of people.

God created everyone. He doesn’t play favorites, and he’s more concerned with our hearts than with our outside (see 1 Samuel 16:7). Ask him to show you if you have any prejudices and to replace them with his great love for all people. Remember John 3:16 says that God loved the world!

Girl Gab: With your mom’s help, go online and find a video of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at the March on Washington in 1963. It’s a little more than fifteen minutes long. Watch the video together. Take some time to thank God for his love for you and everyone.

^a See www.wordsmyth.net.