Do You Love Others?

9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

-First John 2:9-11 (King James Version)

We, as Christians, are to walk in love. Love is what prompted God to send His only Son into the world to become the sacrifice for all sin. In John's writings, you will often find the words "light" and "darkness." "Light" always represents God, "darkness" always represents evil. In these passages of Scripture, John is drawing the line and what represents God, and what represents evil. Where do you fit in?

Verses 9-10 give us a sharp contrast. "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." John is teaching us that if we claim to walk with God, yet hate our brother, is walking in darkness, in evilness. Our actions prove our words. We can claim to walk with God, yet if we sow the seeds of hate is discourse, we show our true colors. He goes on to say that if we love our brother, we live in the light, and we will not have opportunity to stumble. That's important. Why? If we love others, we will never tell lies to them. If we love others, we'll never gossip about them behind their backs. If we love others, we will never do something that would cause them pain. You see, by lying to them, by gossiping about them, by doing something to cause them pain, these give us opportunity to stumble, and fall. 

Then John says, in verse 11, " But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." We walk around in the darkness of evil, we walk around blinded by evilness when hate is in our lives. Many people sit in church on Sunday, singing the worship songs, saying "Amen" when the Pastor is preaching the message, maybe even teach a Sunday School class, but is walking around blinded by the evilness they are living in. Do you love others, today? Think About It.