Friday after the Sixth Sunday after Trinity, 8/4/00

1John 3: 14, 15 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. --NKJV

In the name of the One Who brings us eternal life, amen.

It is always easy for us to see the sin of others. It is equally easy for us to look at sin only as an outward act. We think, "I've never killed anyone, I'm not guilty of murder." But yesterday we saw that murder includes more than the taking of physical life. Today we see that it even includes the thoughts of our hearts as well as actions and words. If we have short memories we may think that we have never thought anything evil toward another person. But if our memories serve us well, and we are honest, we must admit that we are as guilty of murder in God's eyes as the person on death row.

"Then I might as well kill them," you might think. But that would only be heaping crime on top of crime. Instead of thinking evil thoughts toward others and acting on those thoughts, we must confess our sins before God and beg His forgiveness in Jesus. Beyond that, instead of doing evil toward those we don't like, it is a very healthy spiritual exercise to do good instead. If we actively seek to be nice to those we hate, we will eventually conquer our hate with God's help. This is a good practice especially if we are prejudice. If there is an entire group of people we dislike, we should look for the good in them, speak well of them, and do nice things for them. Outward action cannot make us holy before God, but for the repentant Christian it is a tool that God uses to affect our heart. May God help us to love our brother man. Amen.

Heavenly Father, when we understand that even the thoughts of our hearts condemn us, we see that in ourselves there is no hope. But You gave us hope outside of ourselves in Jesus. Lift our minds out of the dust of death to eternal life. Help us to practice righteousness, even when our thoughts would have us do evil. Give us the Holy Spirit to change our hearts to reflect Your love for us in Jesus, amen.

Copyright 2000 Reformation Lutheran Church http://ReformationChurch.org1