Pity the Fool

Jesus taught us, and John reinforces the concept in the 3rd chapter of the book of 1st John, that hate is a destructive force and is likened to taking the life of another. We see these verses:
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Hate is a strong force in this world, activated and accelerated by the power of the evil one.  But love is stronger, and when the love of God is released into a human heart, incredible things can happen - a shift in attitude, a shift in mindset toward another person, a willingness to obey the Lord and follow Him in ministering to others.  When we combat hate through the power of God's love, our hearts become lighter and the light of Christ is released into our communities. 

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A well-known actor tweeted out a verse contained within this passage of Scripture, which can challenge us to allow and apply the love of God in overcoming the work of the enemy. From Matthew 5, we can read:
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

He may have played one of the most legendary villains in a sports movie - ever.  But, the actor known simply as "Mr. T," who played Clubber Lang in the third Rocky film and went on to be part of TV's "A Team," is a long-time Christian whom The Christian Post says, "...has been using his Twitter account to almost exclusively promote the Bible and his reflections on what’s happening in the world."

He has received attention for a recent series of tweets:

“We are fighting 2 contagious deadly virus[es]! One is COVID-19 and the other is hate!” he wrote on Twitter Tuesday.

The television personality continued, “We got vaccinations for COVID and the love of God for all the haters!”

The article also included some other pithy online quotes, such as, “The vaccine works when it’s injected into our arm! The love of God works when you invite Him into your Heart!” He also said:

Referring to Matthew 5:44, he said: “The admonition ‘love your enemies’ is one of the greatest statements Jesus ever made," he wrote, and added, “Love in this passage is love that originates from God Himself.”

The actor, who, as the article notes is a former professional wrestler, has not let up seemingly after this article was published this past Sunday. In a thread from Tuesday, he said: "We have to stop worrying about when this pandemic will end! Instead, let’s ask God to change Us while we are in it! Don’t you know God can Bless you in the midst of it?" He added, "God can AND will turn this Around! God doesn’t have to check-in with the CDC before He starts blessing you!..."

The Post article also relates that...

In 2017, he bravely shared how he came to his Christian faith while on "Dancing With the Stars." During his segment on the dance competition series, Mr. T discussed his cancer battle in 1995. He testified that he had to solely rely on his faith in God during that time.

A Faithwire story quoted Mr. T as sharing with Fox: "My faith was tested like Job. That’s the message I try to tell other people, just because you believe in God, serve God, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, people gotta realize, it don’t mean things not gonna happen to you,” adding, “I believed in God when cancer come to me. Now, when I speak, I speak with authority because I’ve been there.”

That same story related that:

It’s no secret that Mr. T is a Christian, as he has been vocal about his faith in the past. He’s the son of a pastor and has routinely explained the important role that Christianity plays in his life. In fact, he told HuffPo Live back in 2015 that he once turned down $1 million to appear in a beer commercial simply because he didn’t feel quite right about it.

I think this can remind us of the importance of declaring our faith principles, as well as making sure that our lives line up with the testimony.  If we say we love God, then we can ascertain whether or not we are showing that we love Him by loving others. If our hearts are weighed down by fear, hate, and anger, it is difficult to authentically show the love of Christ.

As we have said for months here on Faith Radio, the coronavirus can certainly produce fear, but we know that the word of Christ produces faith - faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so an exposure to God's truth can help to fortify our hearts in the face of COVID and can help to soften our hearts in order to reflect God's love. 

We can rely on the Lord to provide an antidote to hate and other works of the flesh. But, we have to do more than just talk about it or sing about it - as health officials have said about the COVID vaccination, distribution is not enough, we have to get it into arms.  The love of God is available, we just have to get it in our hearts.