"Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge."
James 4:11
This is a good thing to remember. God's law asks us not to judge our fellow men... and when we do, we are not only disrespecting the person or people targeted, we are also disrespecting God and his law.
This morning I got two emails labeled "More trash being promoted by the Perverts in our society" and the other, "More trash from the Socialist-Perverts." The person who sent them sent them to me because he knows that I am a member of the church, and he thinks that because of that, I will agree with these sentiments. ... And, regardless of the content of the emails, there seems to me to be some basic problems here. First, speaking evil of people, as the verses above tell us is a problem, and second... the fact that people consider members of the church to be discriminatory against certain groups.
It's not okay to hate people. No matter who they are, no matter what they are doing in their lives. It isn't okay. Especially us, who have the scriptures and God's word from his prophets. If we hate people because they believe and act differently than we do, we are neglecting God's commandments to love each other. He didn't say to just love the people that agree with us. We are also losing out on a lot of things that we can learn from other people when we hate and avoid them just because they are different than we are.
Today, let's remember that when we disrespect other people, we are disrespecting God and his laws. And truthfully, we aren't accomplishing anything other than poisoning our souls with hatred, and marring the reputation of the church, which should stand for love, acceptance, inclusion, and helping anyone. We can't afford to hate people, or judge them. We need all the love and acceptance that we can get, both from our fellow human beings, and from God.
James 4:11
This is a good thing to remember. God's law asks us not to judge our fellow men... and when we do, we are not only disrespecting the person or people targeted, we are also disrespecting God and his law.
This morning I got two emails labeled "More trash being promoted by the Perverts in our society" and the other, "More trash from the Socialist-Perverts." The person who sent them sent them to me because he knows that I am a member of the church, and he thinks that because of that, I will agree with these sentiments. ... And, regardless of the content of the emails, there seems to me to be some basic problems here. First, speaking evil of people, as the verses above tell us is a problem, and second... the fact that people consider members of the church to be discriminatory against certain groups.
It's not okay to hate people. No matter who they are, no matter what they are doing in their lives. It isn't okay. Especially us, who have the scriptures and God's word from his prophets. If we hate people because they believe and act differently than we do, we are neglecting God's commandments to love each other. He didn't say to just love the people that agree with us. We are also losing out on a lot of things that we can learn from other people when we hate and avoid them just because they are different than we are.
Today, let's remember that when we disrespect other people, we are disrespecting God and his laws. And truthfully, we aren't accomplishing anything other than poisoning our souls with hatred, and marring the reputation of the church, which should stand for love, acceptance, inclusion, and helping anyone. We can't afford to hate people, or judge them. We need all the love and acceptance that we can get, both from our fellow human beings, and from God.
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