Trending News This Week:
- Sporting goods store kicks mom out after complaining about man in women’s bathroom.
- Presidential candidate’s pro-life stance is offensive to many women who support the right to choose.
- 2.3 percent of the U.S. population identify as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Current U.S. news headlines point to a nation that is in serious moral decay. How does the Word of God teach us to address these issues? Where do we find hope when things seem to be spiraling out of control?
No matter what the issue is, we must remember always that the Bible contains the answer. Mark 12 tells us that the first commandment is to love the Lord; the second commandment is to love our neighbor:
. . . The first of all the commandments is . . . The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:29-31
Love is the answer. We are commanded to love our fellow man as we love ourselves.
Matthew 5:19 says: Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
The Ten Commandments of the Old Testament were under the law, but the New Testament teaches that love covers a multitude of sins. That does not mean that we are to turn a blind eye to sin, but we are to remember that Jesus died on the cross for the world, even those who are different, lost, confused, or living a life of sin.
To be clear, sin of any kind is not to be condoned or supported in any way, but we are to do spiritual battle against the devil, and not fleshly battle against our neighbors. Jesus forgave us, just as He expects us to forgive others. Unforgiveness hurts everyone, especially the one who refuses to forgive. A world filled with the overflowing love of Christ will do more to unite us all in peace and conquer sin than all of the armies put together.
So, when you encounter a person who appears to be lost:
- Let the light of Jesus shine through you.
- Honor and glorify the Lord by displaying love and not hate.
- Do your battle against principalities at home in your prayer closet.
Say this faith declaration out loud: Though I hate sin, I love my fellow man. I realize that the enemy wants to divide people and families through hate and conflict. I refuse to give in to the enemy by succumbing to his evil schemes. I will love others as I love myself, and I will battle the devil on a spiritual level, not a natural one.
Scripture Reading:
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I Peter 4:8, NKJV
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12, NKJV
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
I Corinthians 13:3-4, NKJV
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
I Corinthians 13:4-7