Romans 12: 9-21

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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Many people are carrying heavy hearts because of the violence going on in our country and the world right now. Christ says that we will be in conflict, so we should not be surprised that the world is in chaos As Christians, we are to look to Jesus and push back the darkness. But many times we bring the wrong tools to the fight! Have you ever done hard work only to find out that there are better tools for that task? That captures the sentiment of American Christianity right now.

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When Peter cut off the ear of the high priest, Jesus told him to “put your sword up.” Jesus doesn’t want us to fight using the sword. In order to push back against the darkness, we don’t use tools borne out of the darkness, but rather the light.

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From the Bible, we know we are not fighting against just people: our fight is against the devil and the flesh and the systems of the world. And these cosmic powers of darkness are hoping that our gaze is turned from them and locked onto our neighbor. Those enemies are working in concert to keep our weapons turned against our neighbors, rather than the gates of hell.

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So if we're not supposed to attack our neighbor, what are we supposed to do? What weapon am I to go into the battle with?

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Love.Love is our primary weapon. Love is our tool. We have only one way to push back against a world drowning in hate and despair and death and bitterness and nihilism. It’s not by reflecting that back, but rather it’s about driving that out with light and love.

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We are one body made up of many members. Love is the glue that holds the body together. All Christians, without exception, are called to love. And we are told to Love our enemies using the tools that God has given us.

God's love has poured into us. We have the power in us to love sacrificially and unconditionally when love gets hard. If Christians are seen as only able to love when we are agreed with, then we aren’t being the example that Christ called us to be. Christ loved us despite all our flaws. We should be motivated to be able to love others despite their flaws.

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We should love inside and outside the house of God. Love is genuine only if it exists when it is not publicly expedient. Reject evil and love what is Good, but remember to love your enemies. Reject the evil deeds of others rather than the people. And start with the evil in yourself. We are to hold fast to what is Good. Don’t ever let someone tell you your only option is cruelty. That is a lie. We are to also reject the notion of competitiveness within our family. Instead out-honor each other! Over encourage people in your life - that is literal warfare against the darkness! We are also to bless those who curse us. We are to learn to react to hate with blessing and love and growth in God. And we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep - even when we don’t understand the pain/joy they are experiencing. Lastly, do not be haughty, but rather humanizing and dignifying and connecting with the lowly.

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There is only one way to make war. Remember what Satan is trying to do - turn our gaze against and demonize our neighbors. To the contrary we are to remember, even when it’s hard, to see the fellow image bearer of God in our fellow human. We make war against the darkness not by returning hate for hate, but rather light and love and kindness for darkness.

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The more you rehearse the love you have received within yourself, the more you’re able to love even when it’s hard.