Read 1 John 3:11–15
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer.
1 John 3:15
A visitor at the zoo was chatting with the keeper of the lion house. “I
have a cat at home,” said the visitor, “and your lions act just like my
cat. It seems a shame that you have to put those beautiful creatures
behind bars.”
“My friend,” the keeper laughed, “these may look like your cat, but
there’s murder in their hearts. You’d better be glad the bars are there.”
The only reason some people have never actually murdered anyone is because of the “bars” that have been put up: the fear of arrest
and shame, the penalties of the law, and the possibility of death. But
we are all going to be judged by “the law of liberty” (James 2:12 KJV).
The question is not so much, “What did you do?” but “What did you
want to do? What would you have done if you had been at liberty
to do as you pleased?” This is why Jesus equated hatred with murder
(Matt. 5:21–26) and lust with adultery (vv. 27–30).
This does not mean, of course, that hatred in the heart does the
same amount of damage as actual murder. Our neighbors would
rather we hate them than kill them! But in God’s sight, hatred is the
moral equivalent of murder.
Something to Ponder
Do you have any hidden feelings of hatred? If so, what can you do
about these?