Dr Kelly Fleming

Hebrews 6:9–11 (GNT): We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation. 10 God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians. 11 Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true.

Our job as Christians is to help each other. Share our gifts and talents with each other. When we fail to give or receive these gifts, we fail as Christians. We fail in Christian love and fellowship.

One of the things, as you are all aware of, is my passion to share my experience and ultimately the experience of others who are Disabled and living in Christ.

My passion is the inclusion of ALL Christians within the Church in love and fellowship.

Part of the reason Christ took upon Himself humanity was so that He could share in our human experience.

Who better should we look towards to see someone who faced adversity, discrimination, treated with such indignity than Christ Himself?

Should this not be the prime example in our lives to take the lesson He has given us and extend it to every person, particularly those who are “different” in our church communities?

Should we not be seeing each other through Christ’s eyes?

Did He come to segregate people or to unite people. Anyone who is a Christian knows the answer is the latter.

Christ came to unite people. To build His Church which means a congregation of believers.

Ephesians 4:4–7 (GNT): There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.
7 Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given.

Ephesians 4:10–13 (GNT): So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence. 11 It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. 12 He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. 13 And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.

Ephesians 4:15–16 (GNT): Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. 16 Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

Does this passage not speak to you of the importance of including every single person in your community?

Every Christian is a part of the whole Body – Christ’s Church – His people.

When we fail to include someone due to their disabilities or “being different” from others, we are going against the  teachings of Christ and the purpose of the Church.

My challenge to you as your sister in Christ – take that step forward to include every disabled person in your community.

Introduce yourself. Learn how they can communicate with you and talk to them. Tell them about yourself and allow them to tell you about themselves. Use whatever methods you need to be able to communicate with each other in the best way possible.

Do not turn your back on a non-verbal child or adult. Speak directly to them. Allow whomever is with them to provide insight as they feel necessary but make sure you continue to speak to the disabled individual. Watch their facial expressions. They may be non-verbal but their facial expressions can give you so much insight into their personality and their gifts.

Every person has gifts to share with others. Do not limit a person’s gifts because you may not know “how to approach them”.

I’ll let you in on a great way to approach a disabled person.

Walk up to them and say “hi!”

Open your heart to them and see the gifts that they can provide to your community.

❤️🙏🤟🏼