August 11, 2017

HATE EVIL, LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR

Psalms 96:10

You who love the Lord, hate evil;
The Lord keeps the souls of His saints;
He shall deliver them from the hand of sinners.

Personal Challenge

This is why those who love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, and body do not fit into the world. If we truly love our God we will come to a place where we hate all evil. Since the world is fallen, it is filled with evil. The difficult part of this is to balance the hate of the evil with the command by Jesus to love our neighbor. Our neighbor who might be caught up in the evil of this world is loved so deeply by Jesus that He died for them. So, if we love our neighbor as Jesus would, we become a reflection of the image of Christ in their lives. This does not mean, however, that we condone or encourage the evil in their life, we just love them. sometimes this may end up in having to apply tough love to those around us. Living our lives this way sets us at odds with the world, especially those who do not want to have anything to do with God. But as this verse confirms, our Lord will be there with us as we live our lives, keeping us in His hands and delivering us from evil. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have, mercy! Lord, have mercy!