The Spirit of Murder

​It is no secret that this spirit has been around since the fall of mankind (Genesis 4).  This spirit has taken root within the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life and is successful on many occasions.  Big cities and their crime issues are one thing that may come to mind but what about those in this region that carry this same spirit creating the same issues but on a slightly different level?  Watching headlines and seeing the physical murders of people in this region is still troubling.  What about the same spirit of murder but instead of using a weapon for physical death they use their mouth to kill a person’s reputation, their confidence, and their influence with others?  This happens more times than people would like to admit.  Many Christians know it is wrong to murder (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; Leviticus 24:17) but they will still use their mouth to run down a church, a pastor or preacher, other Christians, or just people within the community.  This is the same spirit of murder (1 John 3:15; Matthew 5:21-22; 1 John 3:12; John 8:44).  When the devil can penetrate a church, a church leader, or Christians in general to have this spirit about them he wins a major victory against God’s army.  Because those being used by this spirit do not commit the physical act of murder they see it as innocent or not a sin in God’s eyes.  God views those who conduct such actions as having a lying tongue, haughty eyes of pride, shedding innocent blood who are serving God, a heart that is devising evil, feet that are running to make evil, a false witness, and sowing discord among Christians which are all abominations in God’s eyes (Proverbs 6:16-19).  These actions are lies of the devil and have plagued this region for far too long.  Christians must join together as one army of God fighting for His truth, His Word, and His glory.  Most of these lies begin with someone getting offended while not being part of the situation, whether within a specific church, congregation, or even situation regarding people outside the church.  Instead of handling these issues biblically and getting to the root of the problem if it involves them, ignoring gossip involving others, or talking to someone who is involved in the truth of the matter the lies get bigger and juicier to draw positive attention to the one speaking and reflecting negative attention on the same speaker’s life to hide their own sin and shortcomings.  This can even happen among a whole group of people believing this is proper by adding the phrase, “bless their heart” while condemning themselves in the eyes of the God they declare they serve because of this spirit of murder.  God does not desire for anyone to perish or be separated from Him so those who participate with this spirit should turn and live for God (Ezekiel 18:32).  God holds those who choose to participate in this sin as guilty unless they repent (Exodus 23:7).  The spirit of murder begins in the heart and proceeds out of the mouth (Matthew 15:18-19).  Anyone committing this sin must repent to be in right standing with God (1 Timothy 6:3-5; Galatians 5:19-21; Hebrews 10:26).  May Christians everywhere begin to see this spirit of murder for its true motive to break apart the kingdom of God and use the common ground of serving God as the bond to hold His army together for victory.  You cannot love God if you cannot love your brother (1 John 4:20).