One of the most difficult relationship questions is, “What do we do with Opposite You?” Your Opposite You is the person with whom you fundamentally disagree. You adhere to different codes of behavior, dress, and faith. How does God want us to respond to the Opposite Yous of the world?

I wonder if the best answer might be found in the short admonition to “accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7 NIV). This verb “accept”—paralambano—means more than tolerate or coexist. It means to welcome into one’s fellowship and heart. The word implies the warmth and kindness of genuine love.

Paul employed the verb when he urged Philemon to welcome the slave Onesimus (Philemon 17). And Jesus used it to describe the manner in which he receives us (John 14:3). Accept your opposite you.

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