Heart of love

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

HEART OF LOVE

Prov 29:10

10 Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright.

NIV

Here is where we have to differ from this translation. According to the Hebrew as well as most other translations this proverb has an entirely different meaning. The straight translation from Hebrew reads: Bloodthirsty hate the upright but the just seek his soul. This would then mean, as does this translation, that men who are bloodthirsty or are men of hateful hearts, are bent on the destruction of anyone who cares for that which is upright. It would seem this is very true. We see the persecution of believers throughout the world, some in the most horrific bloodthirsty ways, especially in the Middle East. It may be more subtle in our country, but nevertheless there are those who are bloodthirsty against Christianity in general. The morality issues of Christians is under a vicious assault by those who want no such morality other than their own form of human rights. They crave the blood of babies under the disguise of a women’s rights. They are looking for ways to murder any moral values held by believers. This hatred for people of integrity, the upright, the believers in Jesus Christ, comes from the top and the bottom of our society. But we are not supposed to have hatred in our heart toward any person, in fact we are even admonished to love our enemies.

Luke 6:27-36

27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies , do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.   34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies , do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

NIV

This is a difficult teaching. It is not the easiest to love those who hate us. It is far easier to hold some form of dislike for them, to judge them as mean spirited people who only what to pursue their own gains on the backs of believers. It is easy to be have contempt for those who hate us and want to demolish any moral standards we hold dear. It is easy to see them as sinners, lost in their hateful hearts, condemned by their hatred to hell. That will teach them, they will get theirs in the end. But that is not what Jesus tells us. He does not want us to hold any grudge against those bloodthirsty souls, who we can see the hatred in their eyes toward anything good. Where the rubber meets the road for us was in watching some of the more famous politicians filled with distain or even hatred for President Trump during his State of the Union. It was so easy to be filled with contempt for them, rather than to love them. They hate us so we hate them. But Jesus would have us love them. How difficult it is to get that deep within our being. To love everyone, no matter their style of life, no matter their views on morality, no matter their position on spiritual matters, is one of the most difficult commands to follow. Our heart wants to follow itself, but Jesus says we are to follow him. They are but lost souls condemning themselves to torment in hell and we should have mercy on them just as Jesus says the Father is merciful. God showed his mercy to all mankind by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us all. In reality we are but ourselves sinners saved by grace. Those who hate us are sinners who have yet been saved by grace, but may be able to accept that grace, just as we did. So then if God loves them enough to die for them, how can we hold any distain for them? We truly need to find a way to rid ourselves, with the help of the Spirit, of any form of hatred and fill our hearts with love.