Friends and Enemies

As I watch the news each day it seems to me that we’ve not lived in such polarizing times as we are now.  Social media continues with all sorts of negative angry hateful rhetoric of one group against another. 

It doesn’t seem to matter whether it is rich against poor, one ethnic group against another, male against female, one  political party against another, or one set of religious beliefs that differ from another.  On and on it goes. 

While it is both welcome and healthy to converse with and even voice our disagreement when that’s appropriate,  it saddens us when the anger becomes a part of the issues and bitter rivalries rise up and families are split and friendships broken and ugly ugly things get said or written.  Friends and enemies.

From the beginning of time, with the brothers Cain and Abel we’ve seen how quickly irritation can move to hatred and murder.  Listen to these words:

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.  

1 John 3:11-13

We are called by God to love one another – and that’s not just people who look like us, believe like us, or vote like us.  Let’s pray because the levels of emotion and tension tell us that we need a big God to do a big work in this area.

Loving God, You created every single human being.  You have a plan and a loving purpose for each and every life.  You made each of us in Your image and simply wanted us to enjoy a wonderful life on this earth being blessed by Your love and enjoying Your creation.  

We pray God to not be thrown off course by negativity and hated.  It’s so easy to see our own righteousness and the wrongs of others.  Help us God to put our focus where it belongs – on loving and obeying You. 

Help us to take a clear stand to love and honour others as You intend.  There’s so much that we can lift up in one another even when we must respectfully disagree. 

You even told us to bless those who curse us and despitefully use us and as difficult as that is we know we need to grow up in that way and reflect Your character by behaving in these ways. 

We want to rise about all the ugliness we see and hear and be people who bless and who trust You, with faith that You will reward us at the proper time.  We put our lives in Your hands again today, You our blessing and caring God.  Amen