Day 16 – LOVE ONE ANOTHER
I John 3:11-15: “11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”
Cain killed Abel, the first murder recorded in the scriptures. Evil hates righteousness. The devil hates God and all his people. We are not to hate. We are to love God and love one another. Moses writes that we are to love our neighbors in the same way we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18), which Jesus later quotes in Matthew 22:39. This command to love one another, as we love ourselves, is the essence of the Golden Rule.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the message of love we have heard from the beginning. We pray that You will fill our hearts with Your grace so that we may love one another, following the example of Christ rather than the ways of the world. Lord, deliver us from the spirit of Cain, who was driven by hatred and murdered his brother. We recognize that adopting this destructive mindset or harboring malice means we do not have eternal life abiding in us. Free us from the grip of anger, resentment, and bitterness toward our neighbors. Instead, pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may actively demonstrate Your love in our daily lives. Remind us that everyone who hates a brother or sister is essentially walking in darkness, and help us to instead dwell in Your marvelous light. May our community be a beacon of Your unconditional love, reflecting the truth that we have passed from death into life because we care for one another. Keep our hearts pure and our actions rooted in Your righteousness. We ask for this grace together, as one body, in Your holy and precious name. Amen.
Have a blessed day! Pr Jenny
