Check your heart

I was hit by the heaviness at the beginning of this sermon. It is a tragedy that this commandment even had to be said. It is tragic that there is so much death in this world from violence. But, it is also tragic that on a regular basis I cross the boundary of another person's life with sarcastic comments or holding on to bitterness. This commandment is more than telling us not to kill another person, it's telling us that every life is sacred (no matter how much a person bothers us) because that life is a gift from God. Any harsh word I speak to or about another person goes back to a place of unresolved anger in my heart. And that saddens God just as much as murder. Toward the end DJ said something along the lines of "maybe we can't fix the injustice of violence in this world, but if we deal with the in-humanity in our own hearts, the world will be different because of it". So no, I cannot change the tragic violence in this world, but through God's grace I can move past hurt and anger to love the difficult people in my life.

Thankful for this heart check and that we can forgive because God forgave us first.