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Never Again

Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

We circle again to January 27 observed in remembrance of those killed in the Holocaust — one of the darkest periods in human history. In the short span of four years (1941-1945) over 16 million Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, disabled persons, political opponents and other groups were gruesomely killed in Adolph Hitler’s mass ethnic cleansing campaign.

The United Nations (UN) resolved that never again will the world standby by and allow genocide of any people group as happened under Nazi Germany in World War II.

A reflection on the extreme atrocities committed during Hitler’s widespread ‘heredity cleansing’, begs the question, How could this have happened?

Some historians point to hate facilitated by a culture of indifference. Others argue the Nazi perpetrators and their ‘collaborators’ went unchecked because of people’s “passive complicity”.

In either case, neighbors, friends, colleagues, family, and the authorities failed to sufficiently stand up for those who were ostracized, fulfilling Edmund Burke’s caution that “evil prevails when good men do nothing.” 

Today, as hate, racial prejudice, discrimination and supremacist sentiments are stoked in political rhetoric, let history not fault us for indifference or passive complicity.

Let love conquer hate. 

God loves all people and as his followers, let us uphold God’s command to love.

First, love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). This is the foundation of true love.  “To love me”, God explains, is to “keep my commands” (John 14:15). And all God’s commands are summed up in the love of God and second, love for our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

Difficult as it may be to love those who seem unlovable, as followers of Christ, we are enabled to when we ask God to purify our heart, fill us with his compassion and instruct us in his grace and wisdom through the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 58:6-12 illustrates to us how to practically demonstrate genuine care and God’s love to our fellow human beings in distress.

Mediate on this scripture this week and share with us at  info@patfrancis.org your experiences of applying it in your sphere of influence.

About CHAYIL GLORY

CHAYIL glory is the all-powerful, great glory of God manifested in and through his believers in the earth. The CHAYIL blog is published every Monday with insights to understand and apply God’s perspective to everyday life.

Pray today for the CHAYIL, all-powerful, great glory of God to be awakened in you and in every believer. CHAYIL Conversations coming to Facebook March 4, 2019. Visit https://chayilconversations.eventbrite.ca for more information. #CHAYILConversations