The
teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of
the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow
their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush people with
unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. ...What
sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For
you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the
inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look
like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and
lawlessness. What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you
Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors
killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed.
... Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? Matthew 23:2-4, 27-29, 33
Jesus was
speaking to His disciples and followers about the religious leaders and
Pharisees. He was disappointed in them to the point of disgust. There it
is—Jesus felt the emotion of disgust. He knows how we feel, but He advices us
to love justice…and hate evil. There is a place in the world for hate…for
disgust. The Bible often addresses hatred, which seems to me an even deeper
level of disgust.
-
"For I hate divorce!" says the
LORD, the God of Israel. "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with
cruelty," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "So guard your heart; do
not be unfaithful to your wife." Malachi 2:16
-
And everyone will hate you because
you are my followers. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Mark 13:13
-
But to you who are willing to listen, I
say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Luke 6:27
-
Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them.
Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Romans 12:9
-
You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O
God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on
anyone else." Hebrews 1:9
 |
| If we love our neighbor as ourselves... can we leave garbage to pollute our environment? Near the Great Salt Lke in Utah |
Hate and
disgust are powerful emotions. God hates divorce. He want us to love others—to
love ourselves.
"Teacher, which is the most important
commandment in the law of Moses?"
Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD
your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the
first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:36-39
We are to
love our neighbor as ourselves. I see the key as loving ourselves. How can we
love others if we don’t love ourselves?
Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, I give You my old self—my old
ways and the disgust I have felt—even for myself. I ask that You renew my mind
and spirit that I would become more like You every day. Help each of us—me, my
family, friends, neighbors and anyone reading this to speak the truth—Your truth—to
everyone around us—that they would know we are Christians by our love.
Daily Bible Reading: Jeremiah 23-25
© 2018 Text and
photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
Follow
And Like "Banquet With The King" on Facebook. 👍
No comments:
Post a Comment