Moment of Meditation: Longing Hatred (1 John 3:15)

Original Broadcast: May 2010

Monthly Theme: Fifth Commandment

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
(1 John 3:15)

Longing Hatred

"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer," St. John says. This hatred is an extension of the anger that sits very deep in the heart. This was the hatred that Cain had over Abel because God accepted Abel's sacrifice. This was the hatred that Esau had when Jacob stole the blessing that was rightfully his. This was the hatred that brought about the great persecution of the disciples because of Jesus' teachings.

This hatred is the seed which Satan plants into our hearts to distance us from other people. To keep us from loving one another as Jesus has called us to do. As we've seen through the series on this commandment, there truly is no life within a murderer because murderers do not love. And life only comes through love because God is love. Let us set aside the hatred that Satan poisons our lives with.

"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (v16). Let us lay aside everything, even our own lives, so that our brothers and sisters may know the love of Christ. Amen.