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Romans 10:1-13

15 Apr

10 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
    it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:1-13

Dear God, the verses of the day for Bible Gateway are 9 and 10. Having grown up Baptist, these were part of the three passages of Romans I was taught to lead someone to Jesus: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and Romans 10:9-10. We all sin. The wages of sin is death, but salvation is a free gift from you through Jesus. And then this ipart about believing in Jesus and confessing I need him.

I don’t know how long it was before I read these verses in context. And I’m not saying they were misapplied when I was young. I think they can stand on their own. But It’s important to see what Paul saying here. He’s speaking to Jews in Roman and trying to convince them that Jesus is your son and the Messiah. So he goes back to the beginning for them: the law and Moses.

I like the phrase the translators used here in verse 2: misdirected zeal. I see a lot of misdirected zeal lately. Most of it centered around politics. I see Christians who are zealous about supporting or opposing different liberal or conservative things. I think Satan must just be loving this. I’ve seen people defend bad things they want to defend because of their pride, biases, and prejudices. At the same time, I’ve seen others attack good things because of their pride, biases and prejudices. And I’ve done the same. I’m willing to give someone whose side I’ve chosen the benefit of the doubt when they do something bad, and I’m reluctant to give credit to someone I’ve chosen as an enemy when they do something I think is good. I’m as bad as anyone.

So, my zeal for you gets misdirected. Maybe part of it is that we just don’t know how to lament anymore. I don’t want to feel powerless in the face of seeing things I don’t like. I want to be critical. I want to complain. Or when I see others attacking something I support, I want to be defensive. Social media and even blogging like I do with these prayers has given us this false sense of having a voice when, even if our opinion reaches 100 people, they are going to be people who are already in our algorithm and in agreement with us anyway. We’ll just be preaching to the choir and nothing will materially change in the world.

Father, that leaves me with the simplicity of believing in Jesus, following you, praying for conviction and self-awareness, and then praying for direction and you put dominoes in front of me that you want me to knock over. My little life can have a butterfly effect on the world. It can ripple through time. But I have no idea how that will happen. It might not be the talk I give. It might be the door I open for someone. So help me to be faithful in my worship of you, help me to weed the soil of my life and remove the cares of this world, lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil, forgive me and help me to truly forgive, and show me what you need me to do at any given moment.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 15, 2026 in Romans

 

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Matthew 7:13-14

14 Apr

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Dear God, these two verses have been lingering in my head for a couple of years now. I did a couple of Sunday school lessons on the Sermon on the Mount a couple of years ago, and there were two things that really struck me beyond the basic content in Matthew 5 and 6. First, the summary of the whole thing in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” And then these two verses. The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

I’ve been trying to point some special people in my life to the road for a while now, and it frustrates me that they seemingly choose not to find it. I really wish they would look. I wish they would take me up on the challenge to find it. But I guess they have to be more motivated by pain before they will find it. What’s the quote? Something like, “Change only happens when remaining the same is more painful than the pain of changing.” I never learn or grow in easy times. It always takes struggle for me to move beyond my comfort zone and into a new place. You don’t cause the pain, but I pray that you will make it count.

Father, I’m going to be going over verses 13 and 14 tonight for a men’s Bible study I’m involved with. Help me to guide them. Help them to teach me in the process as well. Help us all to understand better what it looks like to find the narrow gateway and walk through it thoughtfully, intentionally, and determinedly.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 14, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Romans 3:22-26

13 Apr

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Romans 3:22-26

Dear God, I was listening to a podcast on Saturday morning where the host discussed the theology of “substitutionary atonement.” Basically, the idea that Jesus death/sacrifice was a substitute for the death and separation from you we deserve because of our sin. The speaker, Skye Jethani, was saying that he wrote a book called What is Jesus was Serious about Justice, in which he talked about this. He confessed that he went into it hoping to poke holes in the idea of substitutionary atonement, but ended up having it confirmed to him even more. He was giving a brief answer to a question, so he didn’t go into it deeply, but he mentioned the Isaiah 53:4-6 as an example:

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

I think this passage from Paul in Romans works as well, specifically in verses 24-25a:

24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

One of the objections to substitutionary atonement I’ve heard before is that this is child abuse on your part. You punished your son. You mocked, beat, tortured, and brutally killed your son so give yourself some kind of appeasement for my sin. But Skye pointed out, and I agree, that you weren’t the one doing the mocking, beating, torturing, and killing. The plan that you and Jesus had–the plan Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah about in Luke 9:30-31:

30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

It’s what Jesus was praying about in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his arrest in Luke 22:41-44:

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

Jesus isn’t saying, “Father, don’t hurt me or kill me.” He is saying, “If there’s any other way, please pick that one.” But there wasn’t any other way. We walked away from you. We walk away from you in the present. We will walk away from you in the future. How are you to receive us again? Because Jesus, who never walked away from you, allowed himself to be taken away from you by the sin of the men of the time–the sin of us all.

Finally, Paul says something interesting here about how this atonement works for those who had lived previously in verses 25b-26:

This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

It is interesting that Paul depicts you, at least in this translation, as being the punisher of sin. I’ll admit I’m tempted to overlook that word because it doesn’t fit my thesis and points from before. There is a certain distastefulness for me when I see you as the punishing God. But when I see you as the father who lets the son go, that version of you makes more sense.

Father, I struggle with so much when it comes to eternity and you. Will all souls live forever? Honestly, I hope the ones that are separated from you won’t. Is the only way to spend eternity with you through saying the magic words: “I need Jesus sacrifice to cover my sins, I repent of my sins and ask you to forgive me, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior”? Maybe, but that leaves an awful lot of people on the wrong side of the cut line even though they weren’t any worse in life than I am. Do certain sins condemn someone more than others? Was Hitler confirmed Lutheran at one point? Does that grace cover his evil? There is no way for me to know the answer to these questions on this side of life. What I do know is that I am here to worship you today. I want to be your tool in this world. I want to glorify you in all things. And I want to introduce others to the God I know so that they might know you now and join me in worshipping you for all eternity.

I pray this ignorant and feeble prayer in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2026 in Luke, Romans

 

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Psalm 118

12 Apr

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
    and I will go in and thank the Lord.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
    and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer
    and giving me victory!

22 The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
    We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, Lord, please save us.
    Please, Lord, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.
    Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!
    You are my God, and I will exalt you!

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

Dear God, someone shared Psalm118:24 with me today. I was having trouble figuring out what scripture to meditate on earlier today, so I decided to read this whole psalm. Of course, it’s a good one. A classic. But I decided to focus on verse 22. “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” Verse 23 follows it and is good as well: “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.” I don’t know if David wrote this psalm or not. It’s not labeled as such, but it seems like it could be his voice.

Of course, verse 26 echoes the words shouted at Jesus during the triumphal entry beginning Passion week: “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Messiah. David’s heir.

I can see how some nations around the world right now, even though they are not Christian or even Jewish, but they do harken back to the God of Abraham, would feel like verses 10-18 fit them right now:

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

We can all use verses to justify our positions and support what we want them to support. I can sin and find a verse to support what I’ve done. But I can also find encouragement when others have sinned against me. It’s tricky to know when I am the sinner, when I have been sinned against, or when both are true.

Father, right now, I know the parts of this psalm that aretrue, above all else, are the parts that acknowledge who you are. 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever…28 You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give me eyes to see my sin. And yes, I do see my sin, and I am sorry for that. I regret it. It makes my heart heavy. Please forgive me. Show me your path forward. Help me to take the forgiveness I feel from you and offer it to others–even those who have wronged me the most. I will give you thanks, for your are good. Your faithful love endures forever. You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, and I will exalt you!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 12, 2026 in Psalms

 

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1 Peter 2:21-25

11 Apr

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the crossso that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21-25

Dear God, I wrote a letter to a friend yesterday whom will be moving soon. I told him how I admire him. He did a lot to serve our town, but some people reviled him because he was the publisher/editor of the local paper, and he would write editorials that took strong positions on things, oftentimes against what our general community consensus supported. He took principled stands even if it might cost him politically or even economically. He’s a good man.

I was listening to a Christian podcast yesterday and they were talking about how they tried to build an economic model for their ministry in a way that would enable them to take principled stands on issues without tying their income to it because they realized the temptation of saying things to tickle the ears of those who pay them.

As for me, when Peter talks about suffering for you, I am challenged. Do I really sacrificially follow you. You went to your death and separation between the Jesus part of you and the Father part of you for me. What am I willing to do for you?

Father, help me to know what to do at any given moment. Inspire me to speak your truth. Give me visions for what you want me to do that I might not yet have thought of. Be glorified through my life.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 11, 2026 in 1 Peter

 

Romans 5:3-5

10 Apr

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5

Dear God, when I think of the sorrows in my life, while I don’t like them at all, I can definitely see where they have made me a more humble, loving person. I’m much less judgmental that I would otherwise be. I can clearly see the aspect of “prosperity gospel” in the idea that there’s a formula for living your life a certain way and then having things turn out the way you want them to. I was talking with a mom recently who has been through drug/alcohol/suicidal ideation issues with her son. She told me that she had a friend two years ago whose son had to go to a drug treatment center, and she judged this friend for her son being in that situation. Now that she’s been through something similar, she’s a different person towards that friend. Her heart softened and changed. It’s more loving, understanding and forgiving.

The other part of this is the idea of developing endurance. As American Christians, we are soft. We see someone promoting a non-Christian agenda and we freak out, calling it religious persecution. “You’re saying, ‘Happy Holidays,’ instead of, “Merry Christmas.’ Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” “There’s an LGBTQ rights march in my town square. Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” But there are literally people who have been tortured and killed and are currently being tortured and killed for their faith in you. But even the little struggles I have make me stronger. They make me more durable. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling over the last three months. I’ve been mixing in some really hard workouts with some easier recovery rides. I want my body to be able to push through pain and get stronger while also having the muscle memory of what it’s like to be in for an endurance ride. None of that will happen if I rest myself on the sofa and never push through the pain.

Father, I’m not going to go out looking for pain. Life will bring enough of that. At the same time, I don’t want to run from it. I want to walk the path you’ve given me to walk. I want to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, but I also want to have the courage to change the things I can. If it were easy, I wouldn’t need courage. Please give me the wisdom to know the difference, and to persevere and rest in you when life’s trials come my way. If there is to be pain, make it count for your glory and my growth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 10, 2026 in Romans

 

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Hebrews 1:1-4

09 Apr

Jesus Christ Is God’s Son Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Dear God, I like this opening to Hebrews because it’s a nice thesis statement for the rest of the letter/book. Jesus is great. Jesus is the greatest. That’s what makes the rest of what I’m about to tell you make sense.

A few years ago, I wrote an editorial for our local newspaper that had opinions about a local issue. I felt the need to start the letter explaining my experience and background to legitimize my opinions. It feels like that’s what the author of Hebrews is doing here.

It’s also a little like the first several verses of John’s gospel. He established that Jesus was the Word and the Word was with you and the Word was you. He goes on to talk about creation. The truth is, everything he’s about to tell us regarding Jesus hinges on us believing the opening of his letter/book. If we don’t, Jesus looks like a nut with a God-complex. If we believe it, then we can learn to know you through everything he tells us about Jesus.

Father, I’m grateful you are God in three parts. I’m grateful for your “Fatherness,” your “Jesusness,” and your “Holy Spiritness.” I need your completeness to help me grow into the creation you made me to be. I still have so far to go. I’ll have a chance to love others in different areas of my life today. Do everything through me for your glory. I offer myself for you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 9, 2026 in Hebrews

 

Romans 5:6-11

08 Apr

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11

Dear God, I really need to be better at communicating this to people I see throughout the day. I need to be better about sharing this reconciliation with you. The trick for me is that I know it’s not just about realizing their need for you and evening being willing to repent, but getting them to somehow walk the narrow path.

I have a friend who’s really struggling in their marriage right now. Actually I have a couple of friends in that situation. I’ve encouraged them both to really discipline themselves to walk closely with you and be as healthy as they can before they make any definitive decisions about the future of their marriages. I suspect that the healthier they get the more clarity they will get as to how to respond to their spouses.

I just got a text while I was typing this from a friend who said she and her husband are taking their adult son to rehab today for substance abuse. Oh, Father, the path will have to be narrow for him as well. I know he’s battled addiction for about 20 years. Help him to find the narrow path.

Father, lest I forget, I need to walk the narrow path as well. Jesus saved me from your condemnation, but that does me no good here if I don’t live it out during my earthly life. The only way to experience your fruit is to graft my branch to your vine. So I come to you to worship you, love you, and then take that love and give it to others as much as I can.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2026 in Romans

 

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Galatians 2:15-21

07 Apr

15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Galatians 2:15-21

Dear God, the last sentence of verse 16 is what is really catching me this morning: “For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” It’s a reminder for me that the law is for me and not you. I am disconnected from you because of the sin of my heart, and that sin is the decisions I make to be my own God, not love you with everything I have and not love my neighbors. All of the little pieces of the law are for my good and my benefit, but what disconnects me from you is something much more in my core. It is my selfishness that simply walks away from you (notice I kept “walks” in the present tense and not the past tense because I still do it continuously).

I think about Peter’s denial of Jesus, which I spent a lot of time with last week. But what I’m thinking about isn’t the sin of self-preservation over loving you. I’m thinking about Jesus telling him in Luke 22:31-31, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have burned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus’s sacrifice and forgiveness would keep Peter whole with you. Jesus was calling on Peter to take that humility from the moment and use that, not his pride or strength, to strengthen the others disciples.

Father, I make many mistakes. I fail a lot. I’ve failed others many times. Be glorified in me. Help me, Father, to show your love to others through my weakness so that you might be glorified. I offer this simple life. And I also ask for your mercy on some friends I saw yesterday in a retirement home. It was sad. It was sad to see some really competent people from earlier in life look so frail and diminished. I don’t know the path for them, but please be merciful in it. My heart is heavy for what will happen in the world today. Be merciful in that as well. Please guide the leaders of the world and hold us close to yourself even though we sin so greatly.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 7, 2026 in Galatians

 

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1 John 3:14-15

06 Apr

14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

1 John 3:14-15

Dear God, the verse of the day for Bible Gateway was 1 John 3:16, talking about Jesus loving us and giving his life up for us, but this part about loving and hating on the part of humans and murder and eternal life really struck me this morning because of the hate I see in some people I know. In some politicians who are throwing out hate like it’s candy. Cursing others. Even mocking you. It’s unbelievable. It’s really unbelievable that I’m seeing this kind of rampant hate. It is just consuing them. What’s really interesting (in a sad way) is to watch it grow. It’s like a cancer. The hate is really growing in some hearts and completely taking over. I mean, for some, it’s been there all along, and they are just revealing more and more of it to the outside world. But wow.

So let’s turn this mirror back on me. How do I guard myself from this? How do I continue to find the narrow gate and walk this narrow path of love over hate? Is there anyone right now in my life towards whom I’m harboring “hate?” There are certainly some people I don’t like or about whom I think ill, but do I hate them? Is there a fine line? Is there a difference?

I do think there’s a difference. I think there are some people I shouldn’t trust and whose motives are suspect. I might even root for their plans to fail. But “hate.” Do I hate them? I don’t think I do.

Father, give me mercy where you want me to have mercy. Where I tend to be unmerciful. I want to walk through the narrow gate and then down the narrow path with you. I want to feel the mercy you give to me flow through me and into those around me. Live through me. Love through me. Let your kingdom come and your will be done in this world through my life and the lives of your people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2026 in 1 John

 

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