If my memory serves me right, I was a
teenager when I murdered my Mom and my sister.
For whatever reason I no longer remember why I screamed at my Mom in
anger (only once I think) “I hate you!” and another time I smashed a piece of
bread and then a piece of bologna on my sister’s face yelling each time, “I
hate you”. Those are the only times I
remember being out of control, and they certainly aren’t proud moments.
6. You shall
not kill. Ex. 20:13
You shall not hate your brother in your heart… Lv. 19:17
…He who does not love his brother
abides in death. Everyone hating his brother is a murderer. And you know that
no murderer has everlasting life abiding in him. 1Jh. 3:14,15
hates- miseo-
detests, loves less
brother- adelphos-
brother by blood, full or half
- countryman,
co-worker
- any fellow or man
- fellow believer
So according to Scripture, by hating my
Mom and my sister, I became a murderer.
I wonder if there are people out there who have never hated anyone. This is the second time the Lord Jesus shows
us to be a ‘cut above’ by living more holy by watching our thoughts as well as our
actions. See, He’s saying it’s not just
good enough to follow the basic words, but to honour Him we should excel above
and beyond the basic requirements.
Anyway, there is more to this command
than just hate in our hearts. Let’s
consider the other ways we kill people.
Whether or not we believe it possible, we can kill people more than just
physically. There is emotionally,
mentally, and spiritually. Here’s a list
of some of the things I think about when checking my heart for murder:
Hatred or loving less.
Extreme breaking of someone’s heart.
Killing a person’s reputation at
work, church, in the community.
Killing a child’s trust by breaking
promises often.
Killing another person’s dream.
Killing someone’s ideas at Christian
service. “That’s stupid” “That won’t work”
Killing anyone’s self worth.
Showing less love to a person because of
their lifestyle, job, wealth, etc.
Killing a child’s innocence by any method.
Hating the driver who cut us off.
Killing everyone’s good mood around
us because we’re miserable.
Treating anyone as less than us.
Choking the life out of our family.
Killing another’s peace of mind by
our actions or words.
Killing someone’s financial ability
to live by cutting their salary for our profit.
Killing a person’s trust in God because of
our hypocrisy or
lack of love.
Keeping others from being honest because
we condemn
them thus spiritually killing their life.
Killing someone’s spiritual journey
because we don’t pay
our bills on time or ever.
Hating a person because their life is
better than ours.
Killing our own spirit by feeding it bad
food (watching,
listening to immoral things).
I’m sure there are many more ways we
kill without ever realizing it. God is a
God of life, not of death and bringing death into any situation would be
working in the devil’s kingdom rather than the kingdom of our God, and
life. So, how are we doing?
Commandment # 6 –probably broken daily