ENVY KILLS

“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 NLT

Authentic believers are caught in an insoluble dilemma. They love their fellow believers because it is Jesus’ “new commandment” that does away with all the details of the old covenant. It is also the truth of the new nature that God has given us. To love each other is so powerful, said Jesus, that it reveals our loyalty to Him to the world.

This capacity to love fellow believers regardless of petty human differences because it is the right thing to do, is so irksome to the ungodly that they will kill to to get rid of this offense.

That’s exactly what Cain did to Abel. That’s what the ungodly world did to Jesus.

Is this the real reason that other religions so viciously persecute Christians? Perhaps it’s not so much about beliefs as it is about what these beliefs produce.

Pilate recognised that the Jewish religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because of envy.

“Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.)”
Mark 15:9-10 NLT

Envy is more than a feeling and goes much deeper than jealousy. Envy takes action. It is so offended by its object’s attitude or behaviour that it must eliminate its offender.

Real love in our hearts, despite the trivial differences that so easily irk and divide people, embraces, cares for, and serves God’s children. The world cannot understand why we can love those who are or were our enemies. This love shows the ungodly up for what they really are, and they don’t like it.

So, this is the dilemma. Since we now have God’s nature in us, to love each other in response to God’s love for us, we are the target of the world’s hatred. John says that this reaction against us from the world should not take us by surprise. After all, Jesus warned His disciples that this would happen.

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you…. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
John 15:18-20, 23-25 NLT

How must we react in the face of ungodly hatred? How do we deal with insults and accusations?

REJOICE, God is growing our faith.

Jesus said we must rejoice. We are in good company.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12 NIV

Other New Testament writers follow the same instruction.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”
1 Peter 1:6 NLT

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
James 1:2-4 NLT

DON’T RETALIATE, be like Jesus

Real growth in character happens as we learn to respond from who we are rather than react to what others say or do to us.

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
1 Peter 2:21-23 NLT

LOOK AHEAD, there’s a great reward coming.

Any suffering we endure belongs to this life and prepares us for the life to come.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

GOD’S GRACE IS ENOUGH, He gives us strength to endure without sinning.

God’s grace implies that we overcome the temptation to react to unjust treatment out of our fleshly nature. We apply the grace we receive from the Lord to treat others as He treats us.

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT

THE REWARD IS “OUT OF THIS WORLD”. Likeness to Jesus is the ultimate prize.

Grace at work produces mercy in the heart… God’s weightiest attribute.

“Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin…. “
Matthew 23:23 NLT

Our attitudes and responses will not change our opposers. In fact, they will probably react even more vehemently, with even more hatred when we continue to love.

The real issue is, they are who they are, and we must always be who we are.