CAN YOU KILL?

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

CAN YOU KILL?

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…" (Matthew 5:21-22a KJV).

"Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him" (1 John 3:15 NIV).

We were having our supper that evening when my four-year-old son asked his mother: "Mummy, can you kill?" His mother quickly answered, "No, I cannot kill, but I can bless people." I tried to help my son by modifying the question, "Killing what?" My son clarified himself by saying that he meant killing animals. My dear wife still corroborated her earlier answer that she cannot kill even a small rat!

As I was reflecting on the dialogue, I realized that many people might not be able to kill even a small rat like my wife. However, such people have killed, and are still killing, many people by their hatred thoughts and actions.

The Bible says, "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer…" (1 John 3:15a NIV. See also Leviticus 19:16-18; Proverbs 26:24-26). There are many examples of people in the Bible that confirm this: Cain (Genesis 4:5-8); Esau (Genesis 27:41); Absalom (2 Samuel 13:22-28); Herodias (Mark 6:19); some Jews (Acts 23:12-14), etc. While some of these people actually killed the persons they hated, some conspired to kill before God intervened. However, they had one thing in common: HATRED. It always leads to murder.

You might not be able to kill other people by gun, sword, knife, bomb, poison, or any other harmful thing, but do you hate anyone? Are you having any grudge against anyone? To God, you are a murderer. The antidote of hatred and grudge is love. "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs" (Proverbs 10:12, NIV).

Can you kill? Beware!

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

NB

This message was first sent out on December 5, 2004.