Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Another shooting--this time a student kills his teacher, or a teacher. In case any of you are asking, "What's wrong!!?" there really is only one thing wrong--with the people who are doing this, with society for encouraging it, and with many of the rest of us. All of us hate. When a student shoots his teacher, or a youngster a bunch of classmates, the problem is not what happened, but what went before. The student or youngster hates the people he kills. The looter is nothing more than a common thug. The person who murders a police officer is evil. The police officer who murders or abuses a prisoner is evil.
Don't fail to identify evil when you see it, just because you sympathize with the plight of people who are doing evil. Evil is evil. It's not good, and it's not right.
The same thing is true of the violent demonstrations we see, and the evil in the hearts of some of the people in government and law enforcement.
This is all about hating people, who are made in the image of God.
James says it this way:
"[With the tongue] we bless God, and curse men, who are made in the image of God. Brothers, things ought not to be like this."
Every human deserves to be treated as human, unless and until we know they are evil. Then they must be treated as evil men and women.
There are some people, as Jesus said, "who are of (from) their father the devil, and who show that by doing the deeds of their father." Jesus continues by saying that such people are murderers, who want to destroy others by words, actions, lies, whatever. These men and women qualify as "children of Satan," as demonstrated by their actions.
When you see someone evil, you mustn't excuse them because of race, color, gender, religion, or for any other reason. You shouldn't excuse them if you're their mother, father, mentor, of the same religion, of the same political party, or whatever. When you excuse evil, you become part of it. Always.
This is why self-judgment is so important. It's not enough to say when other people do something wrong, and point the finger at them. It's only enough when we start with ourselves, and first confess our own sins and seek change in our lives so that we can be free of the influences of Satan in our religious lives, our society, family, and our work. Then we have clear vision to understand evil in others.
When you start with someone else, you short circuit what God wants from you. He wants you to be close to Him, and this you cannot do if you focus on the failures of others and forget your own.
God says, "You first!" and always calls you (and, of course, me), to seek Him honestly, as the flawed people we are, knowing that we may be first among sinners, and then to look outward at the world we live in and seek change for the outside world.
The recent civil unrest in our own country, the murderous behavior of extremists all over the world, the behavior of our own nation's government--in many cases, Jesus would say, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father is what you have decided to do--he [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning..."
Don't be them. Be God's man, God's woman, God's servant, and reject evil in your own life first. Then encourage the good and denounce the evil where you find it.
Don't fail to identify evil when you see it, just because you sympathize with the plight of people who are doing evil. Evil is evil. It's not good, and it's not right.
The same thing is true of the violent demonstrations we see, and the evil in the hearts of some of the people in government and law enforcement.
This is all about hating people, who are made in the image of God.
James says it this way:
"[With the tongue] we bless God, and curse men, who are made in the image of God. Brothers, things ought not to be like this."
Every human deserves to be treated as human, unless and until we know they are evil. Then they must be treated as evil men and women.
There are some people, as Jesus said, "who are of (from) their father the devil, and who show that by doing the deeds of their father." Jesus continues by saying that such people are murderers, who want to destroy others by words, actions, lies, whatever. These men and women qualify as "children of Satan," as demonstrated by their actions.
When you see someone evil, you mustn't excuse them because of race, color, gender, religion, or for any other reason. You shouldn't excuse them if you're their mother, father, mentor, of the same religion, of the same political party, or whatever. When you excuse evil, you become part of it. Always.
This is why self-judgment is so important. It's not enough to say when other people do something wrong, and point the finger at them. It's only enough when we start with ourselves, and first confess our own sins and seek change in our lives so that we can be free of the influences of Satan in our religious lives, our society, family, and our work. Then we have clear vision to understand evil in others.
When you start with someone else, you short circuit what God wants from you. He wants you to be close to Him, and this you cannot do if you focus on the failures of others and forget your own.
God says, "You first!" and always calls you (and, of course, me), to seek Him honestly, as the flawed people we are, knowing that we may be first among sinners, and then to look outward at the world we live in and seek change for the outside world.
The recent civil unrest in our own country, the murderous behavior of extremists all over the world, the behavior of our own nation's government--in many cases, Jesus would say, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father is what you have decided to do--he [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning..."
Don't be them. Be God's man, God's woman, God's servant, and reject evil in your own life first. Then encourage the good and denounce the evil where you find it.
