"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord."
Leviticus 19:17-18
Sometimes the God of the Old Testament seems like a different person than the God of the New Testament, the former harsher and the latter more lenient. I think part of that could be the interpretation, part of it likely is what level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs the people were on, but I also think that when we have that feeling, we are also failing to see the whole picture of who God is and what he is trying to accomplish, allowing mercy but never robbing justice. He isn't different beings--separate Gods of the Old and New Testaments (or of the Book of Mormon), but rather the same God with his singular mission... "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).
These verses are one glimpse into the sameness of our God. He's been trying for centuries to help us and teach us, and sometimes harshness is required when the consequences would otherwise be tragic (remember Nephi and Laban for instance), but His message at the core of all of it remains a message of joy and hope and true, unselfish love, and if we learn that, then the time for harshness will disappear. :) Today, let's work on living that higher law that God asks us to live--loving our neighbors and letting go of hate--without forgetting the other side, that God is serious when he gives us laws, and there really are eternal consequences for our actions. :)
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