Romans 12:9-10
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love.
That title is a tough statement for a believer who is not supposed to hate! Yet, Paul tells us in the book of Romans, Hate what is evil! How do we know if something IS evil? Can we trust our own hearts to know? Not always! Remember the Bible tells us our hearts are wicked! We can trust the Word of God, the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit to give us guidance.
One of the first things we can do is take the word _ HATE_ _ _, right out of our vocabulary. We use it so glibly I am not sure we even hear ourselves, or think about it’s meaning. I _ _ _ _ when it rains, I _ _ _ _ my hair, I _ _ _ _bologna sandwiches. While these are all inanimate objects and it does not hurt them to _ _ _ _ them, it does hurt you! Words are not just words. When spoken out loud, they reinforce your thoughts and feelings about something. When we say and feel _ _ _ _, we are allowing it to stir around inside our emotional think tank. Just like any other emotion it begins to color our feelings with that rotten _ _ _ _ color! Soon it spills over into our actions, and on to other people!
There is a way to take that color right out of your emotional color pallet. The same scripture that tells us not to _ _ _ _ , tells us what to do; do good.
By the way, the scripture says hate WHAT is evil not WHO IS EVIL. Hating someone for whom Christ died is NEVER an option. We may feel that the most evil person we can think of deserves to be hated. God does not, and still offers redemption to them. So should we. Is it easy? No. Do you think it was easy to watch as God’s son died for you? No. But, He did it and with His help we can love them too!
Try to pay close attention to your speech this week. See how often the word _ _ _ _ enters your conversation. Once you become aware of it you can swap it out with another word that does not carry the volatility of the _ _ _ _ word. You might use different descriptive words, stretch your vocabulary. There is a plethora of adjectives for how you feel about something. Use a thesaurus if needed.
So, Even the evil Darth Vader should not be _ _ _ _ _. Remember he was once Anakin, and had a great ability to love. We need also to love, and be devoted to each other. See the ‘Anakin’ in everyone you meet. That’s how God sees them, that’s how God sees YOU!
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