Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Lev 19:17,18 Quite odd verses to put together. It appears to be saying: Don’t hate your fellow Christian in your heart, but rebuke them openly, for looking the other way at sin makes you complicit in it. Don’t take revenge or bear grudges, but love your neighbor as yourself. It’s odd to us because we have often been led to believe byRead More →

“Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Proverbs 14:22) So much for the ends justify the means. Evil plans with good intentions, according to proverbs, still leads to death. On the other hand, we may be looking at this and thinking, “I’ve been good, I’ve not devised evil, but done things God’s way. So where’s the steadfast love and faithfulness?” God’s promises are true and met by God. We must  be good, steadfast in love and faithfulness, even when others are not. Or strive to. Most of us ought to be more concerned about stumblingRead More →

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18) I have often turned this into a source of guilt rather than power. I struggle with fear, therefore my love is imperfect and inadequate. Such negative thinking does us no good and serves no purpose but to discourage us, and therefore is from the devil and should be cast out. Rather than beating ourselves up for our inadequacies, lets focus on the truth that, by focusing on our love for God and cultivating a Christ-likeRead More →