The LORD'S sixth Commandment
Exodus
20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
This could easily be the point in which I end this piece of writing.
There is no question, no confusion and no grey area with His request with this one.
We are to never willingly take the life of another or our own for that matter.
Leviticus
24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
God, our beautiful Father, who surely did give us life, calls us to value life, all life. His Word tells us we have no place playing judge and jury with the life of our brothers and sisters.
To add to this seemingly straightforward and simple request I will ask you to ponder this…
We are spiritual beings living temporarily in these physical bodies.
We are held accountable by God, to share of His goodness with our brothers and sisters and to be positive influences on each other.
With these things in mind, what if there is more than one way to kill a man?
…
James
5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
THIS is the gift AND the responsibility that the LORD calls upon us to fulfill with our brethren. Be the example, lead others away from sin by living Godly lives and sharing His Word with each other.
1 John
3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
So, with this being our gift, to be able to have a place in helping to save a soul...what do you think it would be called if we were the ones, purposefully or not, leading a soul to death?
Romans
5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Mark
9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
You see, by being spiritual AND physical beings, we are able to have an affect on each other in multiple ways. We can physically kill another and end their physical life AND we can have our hand in spiritually killing another, this in many ways.
If we are calling ourselves followers of Christ and we think or speak or constantly behave as the ungodly does and our brothers and sisters not only see our hypocrisy but they turn away from the LORD in their own walk due to our example… this could lead to spiritual death.
If we, as said Christians, pick and choose when we shall be godly and ungodly in our lives based on our specific circumstance at that time, leading another to stumble in their walk by following us… this could also lead to spiritual death.
AND if we, as children of God, partake with heathen and behave as heathen WHILE professing to be His children with our mouths, leading a NON believer further astray from their Father...This, I imagine, would and could lead to spiritual death.
Realizing that spiritual death is basically eliminating one's ability to live eternally in the glory of our Father and His will… how many times have we been guilty of these sins?
Proverbs
18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
Oh how we must be careful to not be the cause of that wounded spirit but to be the brother or sister in Christ who lifts them up and helps lead that spirit by example to healing!
1 John
3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
To take a man's physical life is killing him yes, but IF he is of and for the LORD, he lives still.
Having a hand in making spiritual death an eternal reality for another man due to OUR choices? That could literally be at the cost of both souls.
If we love God we keep His Commandments. We read His Holy Word and we live it. We love our brothers and sisters as He loves us and we repent. We repent for all of those times we didn't serve Him in our walk, those times we put our flesh before our spirit and we pray, that no man has been or will be spiritually killed because of our choices. Amen.
Proverbs
18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
God bless and be well in Him xo
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