What Does Hate Look Like?
“Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.” – 1John 3:15
Hate feels like such a strong word. That said, do you hate certain people? You say no, however, perhaps we say no too quickly.
I remember when I first moved here to Wichita. A family member instructed me not to live where all the black people live. Of course I paid no attention. Skin color does not carry meaning for me. My only goal at that time was to find a place near work so we wouldn’t need to spend lots of money traveling to and from work. It struck me as odd that a perhaps well meaning Christian wanted me to make sure and dwell with my own skin color group. Actually I got rather upset when given those instructions.
Prejudice is a form of hate. We must not let our nation’s current race bating become part of we the family of God. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight,” says a children’s song and yet sadly they may not be precious in our sight. And yet God calls hatred of another as if it were murder.
But you point at your screen and yell, “I never killed anybody.” So what did Jesus say about this same topic? Yes you can murder more than someone’s body. Condemnation can be a form of emotional murder or even spiritual murder. God’s people must not be like the world, segregating on the basis of color, race, disability, monetary statistics, or even vaccinated against unvaccinated. Unity should be the goal among we who belong to the family of God. Love each other. God says it and we should put this into practice.
And if you feel like John just wants to be difficult then open your Bible to Matthew 5:21-22 and see what Jesus says on this topic. Kind of makes one uncomfortable to look at the standard our Lord set. I guess that may be why he says we are to be lights in this world. His standard sure looks different than the one set by our world.
These morning meditations written by Christian believer and author, Patricia Hawkins, who offers these meditations for your personal edification. You may contact Patricia at prayerpartnerpat@gmail.com.