What if?
What if we stopped reacting to the words of the few whose goal it is to stir up dissention? What if we ignored those who pointed fingers at others different then themselves and just loved people anyway? What if we let go of past sins and offenses of our ancestors and instead embraced each individual? What if we hated injustice, instead of hating people…Call me naive. Call me a dreamer. Call me ignorant. But what if…
What if instead of being puppets yanked about by the “man behind the screen” we realized that the “few,” though loud, do not represent the whole. That those few who spew hate are evil. What if instead of believing and responding to the hate-hype we just simply turned it off.
But it’s much more than that isn’t it?
There is an evil in this world and it’s out to kill, steal and destroy us! To pit brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, people against God…
But, what if we put the blame where the blame lies and stopped blaming our neighbor for the sins of his ancestors, stopped blaming those who are different from us for our own insecurities, stop blaming the masses for the sins of the few, stopped blaming God for the evil of man, and for the wickedness man has done in His name.
Friends, don’t be fooled by those who call themselves Christians but do not have love in their hearts, those serpents are not of God and will not inherit the Kingdom!
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”
[2Co 11:13-15]
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [Mat 25:41]
Satan is the father of lies. And his goons will stop at nothing to keep us distracted so that we will miss the purpose of this life – Loving the LORD with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and loving others as we love ourselves. They stir up our hearts with anger and bitterness and unforgiveness and jealousy and racism and pride…
Oh, this truly is a systemic problem… And the root is deep.
I saw this post today and it sparked these thoughts.
The problem is, we’re not innocent are we?
No matter how good we are, what great things we’ve done, we have sinned against a holy God.
As the Scriptures say, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” [Rom 3:23]
Friends, let’s be real, every people group has abused another. Inflicted horrible, unthinkable acts upon others AND upon their own. War, riots, genocide, slavery, rape, murder, abuse, brutality… And how about us? Haven’t we ourselves inflicted pain on others. In our ignorance or insecurity or outright meanness haven’t we said and done things that have wounded another? Oh, we may not have taken a life, but let’s not minimize our transgress!
Yet, we join in our favorite flavor of the clamor that “Someone must pay for these crimes!” Oh, but thankfully friends, someone already has! Someone not bound by our sin nature. Someone with the authority to cancel sin’s debt. Someone willing to take the punishment for all sin, become sin, that we might be freed from sin… Why? Why would anyone do that???
Friends, this is Good News!!! Our sins, our father’s sins, our ancestors sins, they can all be forgiven. And their consequences healed! Just imagine for a minute how that feels. Imagine if everyone could feel that freedom. What if we believed it? What if we dared to received it?
How would this change anything?
If we embrace the Grace of God through His Son, Jesus, asking forgiveness in His Name, and follow His ways, everything will change! Our eternal destiny will change. Our hearts will be changed by the lavish love of Jesus! Our lives will begin to change because of it. And it will change how we see others – as children of the Most High God, sons and daughters made in His image, precious and unique.
And we would begin to cherish their beautiful uniqueness because it reflects yet another aspect of our infinite God. And we would begin to love them as we love ourselves and hatred would be destroyed and they’d want the Source of love we have, so we’d share it with them, and their lives would be changed…
What if we did that? We would change our world – one person at a time.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
[Jhn 13:35]
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