1 John 1:9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. 10 Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

I am confident that every person on planet earth has been injured at some point in your life to the degree that it created hate in your heart. What compounds these injuries is when they are the result of a fellow believer. In times of great hurt, it is easy to write people off, refuse to reconcile and harbor hate toward the other person. The Word of God says to embrace such a life is to walk in darkness and deny the healing that God can bring. Don’t waste your life being blinded by hate to the life that God has for you.

What do you do when you are injured by another believer?

Realize what God has done for you is greater than what anyone on earth has ever done to you.
Realize that while you were a sinner Christ forgave you. Realize that this injury to you will never be equal to the injury that your sin caused Christ. This hurt that is overcoming your life can only be overcome by embracing the one who has already taken this hurt and every hurt to the cross for you. When you refuse to forgive, you are not only creating space between you and that person, but you are also creating space between you and God.

Recognize that what they have done to you does not change their value to God.
Recognize that God is not going to change His love towards a person just because you do. Recognize that God already knew their sin and has been dealing with it longer than you will ever know. Romans 2:4 reminds us that the same longsuffering He showed to us, He will also show to others to bring them to a place of repentance.

Remember that this incident involves more then just you.
The enemy would love nothing more than to not only destroy you, but to destroy others in the process. Whenever a believer embraces a spirit of hate over an injury, he always ends up doing damage to other believers who are watching.

Refuse to retaliate.
Matthew 5:44-45 reminds us to love those who hate us and to do good to those who do harm to us. The scripture is easy to say but hard to live out. Realize that when you refuse to retaliate you are giving room for God to deal with all parties involved.

Today’s Challenge: Refuse to live a life that is destroyed by hate. Ask God to forgive you of your hate and to heal you of your hurt. Make amends that are necessary and begin to walk in His healing.

Join us tonight at CFA to hear this message in its entirety. Service starts at 6:30. Other messages can be found at http://www.camdenfirstassembly.org