Each day we witness more division within our culture. There are only two sides, hate and love, and the separation is growing larger. Sadly, for some, violence is becoming more acceptable.
Much of today’s violence has a specific reason: It’s about politics and religion, just like it’s been since time began. Destruction, death and even wars have been fought simply because one side disagreed with what the other side believed.
It’s disturbing to see millions of people, including even people we know, who are pleased with violence. How in the world could anyone in their right mind, especially someone who considers themselves a Christian, rejoice over people being killed, just because their worldviews are different? This is evidence that many are allowing hatred to control their minds, and this resentment has allowed a strong delusion to distort and blind their conscience.
Political, religious and social views are based on whether or not a person cares about what God demands. We know that millions of individuals have been murdered throughout the Old and New Testaments because of their convictions. The number is too vast to know exactly how many have been silenced for their opinions. Believers grieve because they know this is what Satan wants.
The Open Doors World Watch, released earlier this year, reports that each day, on average, 12 Christians are killed for their faith in Christ. This means that every two hours, a believer is murdered. From Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, nearly 300,000 Christians were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding or flee their country of origin. Global persecution is real, and consistent, and yet we seldom think about how this brutality and suffering could one day be a reality for us.