11 But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
"Do unto others as others would do unto you” is one of the basic principles of life that we have all learnt as young children in school. As Christians, we are taught to love one another as God has loved us. Family is life’s greatest blessing and as Christians, family is not limited to just the people that are connected to us by our blood but rather, the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, many times, we may forget this and become bitter and hateful towards one another. Verse 9 of this passage states, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in darkness”. Jesus is our light. With Him, we are able to overcome any mountain, big or small, that may be in our path. We may go to Church every Sunday, listen to various sermons at Church or online, and praise Him but what good will come, if we have one or two people in our lives that we just refuse to forgive for a mistake they committed? Yes, we are humans. Yes, we do make errors. We may hold grudges for days, months, years at a time but for reasons that we may no longer even remember. “The true light is already shining” (verse 8), yet we continue to live in darkness. It is so easy to cut someone out of our lives and go on with our day to day life. On Judgement day , we will be judged. Every wrong decision that we made towards another person will be brought to the surface. What will, then, be our response as we stand before the Almighty?
It is important and a privilege to have our religious community as our family. Throughout the wonderful milestones of life, we are taught to raise children in the faith, to grow together with Christ in marriage, and be spiritually wise as we become elders. We are also asked to love one another in the process. We all have goals in life but our primary goal is to be more like God – to show compassion, to stand together in weakness, to love unconditionally. These qualities, with many others, can be found within a family. Family is anyone we consider as family, whether it is personal or a working relationship. It is our duty to bring light toward our loved ones, rather than being blinded by darkness of the world.
PRAYER
Dear Father, help us to realize that you are the light in our lives and help us to keep you as the center of our families. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Family is not limited to just the people that are connected to us by our blood but rather, the blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
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