Exhortation

We Americans like to pretend we are self-made men and women. We don’t need nobody’s help, don’t tread on me, we’ll go it alone if only they’ll leave us alone. My life, my body, my person are mine and mine alone. We think that we can make our way through life as independent contractors.

As a result, we Americans are particularly apt to the delusion that our relationships have no effect on the way our lives go. John makes it clear that this is not the case. If we hate our brothers; if we are full of envy, anger, malice, bitterness, wrath, and clamor; if our speech is sprinkled with gossip and lies and slander – then John says our way is not going to be easy. Hatred is the way of darkness, and in darkness we can’t help but trip and fall.

You want to know God’s will for your life, but everything seems murky and hidden. God has given you no clear path. You seem to be faltering in the darkness, tripping over everything and generally lurching through life. Why doesn’t God give you some clear direction? Where’s the light switch?

Here’s a suggestion: If you feel like you’re groping through a moonless night, examine how you’re living with your brothers, particularly those nearest to you. How do you talk to your kids? Do you have fights with every roommate you’ve ever had? Are you treating your wife as you would like to be treated? Do you love your brothers and sisters – genuinely love them, or are you at best indifferent?

If you want the darkness to yield to the dawn, if you want to know where the Lord is leading you, repent and love your brothers and sisters. For the path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter to the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is deep darkness; they don’t even know what makes them stumble.