choose love instead of hate

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Opportunities to spew hate are rampant. You see acts of violence and people doing all kinds of horrible things. It seems most, if not all, are based in pure and ugly hate.

That is why Christians have to do things differently. We must choose love over hate. We must pour on the love of God and not vengeance from a troubled heart. Love has all kinds of facets and characteristics, but love is always the upper road and leaves people better than you found them.

Are you responding to the people we encounter based on our pain or our past? I pray that is not the case. It is right to choose the side of love, of making people better and stronger and pointing each and every person to God,

Romans 13:8-10 NLT

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These —and other such commandments —are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Our obligation is to love the people we come in contact with. Our responsibility is to show people the love of God. But best yet, our opportunity is to love people the way God loves us.

Many other verses give us the facts about love. Love crosses boundaries. Love crosses out wrongs. Love heals old wounds. Love changes our direction. Love opens our eyes and the eyes of others. Love conquers fears and even ends battles.

Colossians 3:14 NASB

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

We need the kind of love in our lives that brings unity. That is why love fulfills God’s law. This love makes the giver and the receiver better.

My prayer is that we will choose love over hate all the time. There is no room for hate. There is no time to miss pointing people in any direction other than toward God. May our lives be marked by loving people the way God loves you and I.

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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