Love Your Brother/Sister
Meditation
(1 John
2:9-10)
I
cannot claim to be a Christian while holding a grudge, especially to the point
of hatred. Before I was saved, I hated the people who had hurt me in the past. I
didn’t understand how important it was for me to forgive them and not hate
anyone, even those who hurt me. At first, I would say, no one could understand my
pain. I thought my pain was supposed to excuse my hatred. I was quite
unapologetic about my hatred, claiming the sin against me was far greater than
anything I’d ever done to anyone else.
Therefore,
for quite some time after I thought I gave my life to Jesus, I was still in
darkness. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit was patient with me. He was working on my
heart. He was guiding me to where I would hear the message of Christ through
different sermons in those formative months and years. He softened my heart to
accept the fact that my sins against others, and more importantly against God,
were just as great, or greater, as what had been done to me. Once I understood
all that, I came out of the darkness and into the bright light of Christ.
Look
at how much hatred there is in the world today. It’s accepted, even encouraged
to hate whole groups of people who have a different political philosophy than
us. Some will hate everyone with a different lifestyle than theirs. Hatred for
the enemies of our nations is invigorated after each incident or act of
terrorism. Hatred has become a common, even supported way of life for most of
the world. If we’re a part of that hatred, in any way, the love of Christ is
not in us. It’s alright to hate their actions but not the people. Hate the sin,
not the sinner.
Whatever the reason, if you hold hatred in your heart
for anyone, no matter the cause, the love of the Father is not in you. Don’t
delude yourself with excuses of how much you were hurt. If you hate someone,
you are a Christian in name only. On the other hand, if you love even those who
hate you, despite what they’ve done to you, you truly are a child of God. The
Holy Spirit will guide you through life and keep hatred from causing you to
stumble.
Prayer Time
Heavenly Father you have all the answers to our questions. We are pathetically inept at knowing what’s good for us. We think we are alright when we accept your forgiveness but withhold our forgiveness of others. We somehow think our sins aren’t so bad, but when someone sins against us, it’s always worse than anything we might have done. We’re only fooling ourselves if we say we’re saved when we hate someone whose hurt us. We are still just as much in darkness as before. We thank you, Father, for forgiving us even though we don’t deserve it. Help us to remember to forgive those who’ve wronged us, so we can finally stand in your loving embrace. Teach us that when we hold a grudge, we’ll never truly walk in your light. We will never know what it means to live in the light of truth, where there is no hesitation in forgiving and being forgiven. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
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