Don't Be Hating

 

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense- Jesus Christ, the righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world.  We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.  The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:  Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.  The old command is the message you have heard.  Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.  Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” I John 2:1-8

 

Emotions are fickle things.  We love someone, and then we hate them.  It is amazing how our emotions can run from hot to cold.  So often we put the word hate on strong emotions of anger. Regardless of how we come to these negative emotions, we have to guard against them.

At times we feel like we love God, but hate some people in our lives.  But it does not work that way.  The Bible is plain that we cannot hate someone whom we have seen but love a God we have never seen.  (I John 4:19-20)  If we do not love our brother, then we are not walking in the light.  God is love, and if we are walking in him, then we must walk in love as well.  No matter how someone hurts us, offends us or betrays us, we must guard against allowing our offence to deepen to hatred.

If we truly believe that God loves us, we can trust him to ultimately defend and avenge us.  If we are waiting on him to be our defense, it is much easier to let go of anger we have toward someone else.  Often we clutch bitterness and hatred to ourselves as if it protects us from further hurt.  But what we are honestly doing is exalting ourselves to the place of God, casting judgment and exacting revenge.

No matter how closely we walk to God, we never reach a place that we do not have to guard against negative emotions. We are all tempted to allow sin to creep in.  We cannot sail through life without being hurt, but we can decide in advance to deny bitterness the right to remain in our heart.

Dear Lord, please help me to trust in you to protect me in relationships.  Help me to guard against the negative emotions I am feeling.  I need your grace and strength to stay in love and light. In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri