He Hate Me

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." John 15:18-19

Do you remember the XFL? If you have no idea what I'm talking about then God spared you the truly awful experience of watching indoor football meets the World Wrestling Federation. It was a concept to have a league that played during the NFL's off-season. It was truly awful, and thankfully only lasted one season. Players could have just about anything put on their jerseys for their name, therefor one man chose "He Hate Me" as his name. He explained that he choose the name because when he would win the other team would hate him. He also stated that if the coach put someone in to play besides him it was because "he hate me". Um, or maybe he was just giving the other guy playing time? Part of him wanted to people to hate him, i.e. the other team after he beat them, and part of him believed people hated him because they didn't chose him.

If the world hates you there is no doubt as to why. It hates you because you reflect Him who lives in you. Jesus is telling His disciples that the world will hate them, and that it's okay because they hate Him too. Earlier in this chapter He tells them that He chose them. In this verse He goes further and explains that they were chose to be out of the world. We aren't hated by the world because we beat them at a game, or because they didn't pick us. Rather we are hated because God picked us.

I hesitate writing this next part, but here it goes anyway. Too many Christians in today's culture want to be loved more than they want to love. They want to be relevant. Isn't there even a Christian magazine called that? They want to be accepted, so they accept everything. They are tolerant. They don't wear the jersey "He Hate Me" but rather the one that states "I'll Accept Everything So The World Will Love Me". And do you know who rejoices as Christians find themselves loved more by the world? Satan. He doesn't want to see Christians as not being of this world, but rather as embracers of everything in this world, no matter how unholy it may be.

God called us to be in the world, but not of it. (John 17:16) We have been told to embrace what is holy, and yes to love others. Not accept sin. Jesus told the woman thrown at His feet to go and sin no ore after He showed her the love of forgiveness. By the Law, she should have been stoned to death, but He showed love to her and spared her, but He also told her to go and sin no more. Somehow I doubt she was ever in another man's bed again. She experienced His love and, hopefully, listened to His words and stop her sinful way.

When God speaks into my life to reveal sin, it hurts. Not because He is being mean, but because I feel awful. I see the sin and how unholy it is and know He could choose to cast me away. But His love is two-fold in that it exposed the sin to me and it forgave me. I can't just get up out of the dirt at His feet and go and continue that sin. I experienced His forgiveness, His love, so how could I possibly.

No I am not God, and I can't offer forgiveness of sin. But I can speak Truth into the lives of those around me who are acting of the world. They may hate me, the verse above tells me that. But they may also hear the Truth and be set free. They may feel the love and forgiveness of God and go and sin no more. We Christians, need to stop trying to live in this world by being of it, but rather live in this world by being of His Kingdom. We will be hated by those who hate Him. But I would rather be hated by them than not belong separated from the world and with Him.

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One of Those Ouch Verses

"Let bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:31-32

Ouch! These verses were perfect for me today, and I can't say that I really like them very much. I hate when I read devotions where the author writes about verses like these as if that is so easy. It is so not!

Do you see the incomplete list of malice there? We have bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander to name just a few. These words are not synonyms. Just because you have anger doesn't mean that you will go around slandering other people. Of course, if you are angry you could slander people. Bitterness can be poisoning just me or it could come out as wrath on others around me.

Now if I'm going to be honest if someone hurts me I feel anger towards them and depending on how badly I've been hurt bitterness does take root. I don't tend to slander people though or act upon wrath. Now clamor is so not me. Clamor is shouting and confusing, imagine arguments on "reality" TV shows. People are just yelling at each other and it's almost impossible to understand what anyone is saying. Yea, so not me.

Well, back to the verses. I have been feeling so serious anger lately and the last thing I really want to do is be kind or tenderhearted. And forgive! No, I don't want to forgive. But I have to forgive. My anger may be hurting others, but it might not. Others might not even know that I'm angry. The same goes for forgiveness. The other person might not even know that they did something or said something they need to be forgiven for. Regardless, I need to forgive. When I forgive I feel peace. The anger and bitterness seem to just melt away.

Of course, when I read the final words of the verse "as God in Christ forgave you" I have a real hard time hanging on to my anger and not forgiving. God forgave me and He did through the sacrifice of His Son. When I really think about that there is no way I can not forgive. So today's verse was perfect for me today. Is it meant for you too?