A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Christian on Christian Crime
1 John 2:3-10 (NIV)
Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
When we entertain rumors, gossip, suspicion, lies, stereotypes, and fears about others in our lives, we give room for the enemy to make a presence in the way we process the truth about others and ourselves.
We are never able or capable to see, hear, understand others and overall, fully love, because we are constantly judging and pre-judging each other through the filters of prejudice, bigotry, and favoritism.
We treat the people who will and who have loved us unconditionally like dirt. But the one who means to do us harm, we treat them to a five star dinner on gold platters!
Are you entertaining the enemy in your life? Have you made a room in your heart that the enemy has taken his residence? Are you using devices of evil to keep others in bondage or to get into higher positions?
Proverbs 26:21-23(NIV)
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.
23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
James 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
We have to LOVE people through their mess! I don't mean coddle, pat their back, and tell them that it's right! I mean PRAY FOR THEM! We may not agree with how people live or the choices they may make, but it is not our mission to judge people or put them in man/woman made living hell prisons!
1 John 5:16-17 (NIV)
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
Sometimes many Christians think that by talking behind someone's back or belittling another person, you are helping that person to see that they are wrong. But this is not the way that God wants us to treat others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ! We are to PRAY for our brothers and sisters!
James 3:9-10 (NIV)
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Why are we choosing to the opposite of what the Word of God says to do? Why are we aiming to tear down each other with our words instead of building up and blessing each other with prayer???
People who say they love God should not have so much hate and evil in them.... they shouldn't.... but they do. These type of people are not lovers of God, because if they truly loved God, they would not do such things to other brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
On Not Loving the World
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
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Even though the Word of God tells us not to love this world and the sin of this world, not to do bad things... we still do. The fact is, because we all have done so and will do so at one time in our lives, means WE ALL NEED TO REPENT AND CHANGE from the ways that tear down and destroy our souls. If you believe in God through Christ Jesus, you should know and believe that through His power, we are able to choose a better Way, a more perfect Way, God's Way!
1 John 5:18-20 (NIV)
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
God can and will cleanse us from the impurity of our lips, hearts, and minds. God can and will keep us from sinning. God can and will follow through with His Word. God never fails. We as believers need to take His Word seriously and understand, that our actions have consequences.
