February 2025 – Hate Sin…but Love!
John 3:16-17 “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
We should not misunderstand God’s love for the world, rather we should understand that God’s love for the world is not an endorsement of loving worldliness. That word love means “to love in a social or moral sense”, so in essence when God loved the world, it means that He loved the people.
We’ve heard it said many times to hate sin but love the sinner, but I have found that sometimes we are repulsed by the sinner; however, many people don’t understand what drove them to their sin. It’s important to understand God’s love was so great that He loved people right where they were and loved them right out of where they were. We can therefore conclude that we must love all people and see them with compassionate eyes and not disdain. We can hate sin, but we have to be able to love still. If we are not careful, we will let our disdain for sin be projected in how we interact with the sinner; they then will take it as a disdain for the individual and not the sin.
I challenge you this year to pray with me that God will teach us a new level of love, and allow the love of God to grow people. Challenge them to come out of their sin and love a life that God has prepared for them. Let’s hate sin, but never stop loving!
Senior Pastor Ardary