The venom of asps is under their lips

Romans 3:13-14 Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”  “The venom of asps is under their lips.” Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

I heard a story, from two very reliable sources, about a man who was so spiritually bankrupt that he threatened a competitor with running that competitor out of business. This story has a very profoundly sad aspect to it. The person that was threatening the competitor let the competitor know they would not even be able to go to work for him. And the reason was, the competitor came from the wrong faith.

When I heard this story, I was at first angered. I personally know the competitor that was threatened. I do not like it, when friends are threatened. It fills me with a resolve to want to “fix” someone. And then I remember who I am, what I am, and I have to ask myself the big question. What would Jesus do in this situation? And my answer comes from the Bible. In processing this answer, I am first led to Romans 3:13-14.  There are people who walk this earth who completely and totally fit the description offed in Romans 3:13-14.  But if I stopped reading there, I would miss the important lesson offered to me in Romans 3:15-17 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” If I set out for revenge, I am no better than the original offender. So what am I to do, nothing? Surely God wants me to do something! And then the answer is open for me to see in my blindness. Matthew 5:44 & 45 admonishes us with the words of Jesus. “But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes sun rise on the evil and on the good and send rain on the just and on the unjust.”  But what should I pray for in regards to those who would persecute me, or my friend?  Obviously if my friend, who is a Christian is from the “wrong religion” then the man who persecute the friend is not a Christian. And so the enlightenment offered from Romans 3: 21-26 is what needs to be prayed for.  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as   a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

If we want to help, we must pray for those who are not believers. We must seek a change of heart for those do not know the love of God, His grace and His forgiveness that is given to all who believe in Christ Jesus. In the end, I pity the man who persecutes my friend and thus offer the prayer below.

PRAYER: Almighty God, Your love for all mankind is boundless. All have sinned and fallen short of righteousness. Many who call themselves believers are not. Many who would show disrespect for others claim to be righteous by their own actions and deeds. Father, my heart goes out for the lost, the deceived and those whose false beliefs lead to death of body and spirit. Abba, Father, I ask that You would pour out Your Spirit on those who would persecute others. I would ask that their hardened hearts would be softened with Your love. I ask that their eyes be opened to the righteous that is offered through Jesus Christ and not the death that lies before them in their mistaken efforts at self-induced righteousness. Lord, let Your Spirit change their hearts and their lives. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reign supreme as One God, now and forever, Amen.