Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.
(Psalm 37:1, NLT)

Ah, but isn’t that a hard thing, not to worry or envy? Especially those we think are getting away with something. And we see them everywhere.

The wicked and the wrong doers are frequently paraded across the television screen or movie screen, often celebrated in the news, regularly smiling out from magazine covers.

They are emulated, and even venerated in our culture.

We might even see their cars parked at clubs and bars.  Or living in big fancy homes.  Or living on the wrong side of town.  If we look, we can find them everywhere.

But really.

Here I go again, labeling the other.  Labeling them wicked.

Are they any more wicked than I am?
Isn’t all sin equal in God’s eyes?

Doesn’t God’s word say
“But they have all gone wrong; they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right, not a single one. (Psalm 14:3, GNT)

Myself included.

More importantly, might these wicked actually be the hurting people who are, as the old song goes, searching for love in all the wrong places?
Might they people have never experienced the love of God?
Might they have only lived with judgment and condemnation by others, even those who profess to love God?

Could they be the very people, the neighbor, Jesus calls me to love?
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Matthew 22:39, GNT)

So instead of worrying about what “they” are doing or envying “them” in any way, I should rather be reaching out to them, loving them as God loves me.

Because

“If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.” (1 John 4:20, GNT)

Prayer
God of love, let your love flow through me. Help me to see others as you see them. Help me to look beyond the things that make me worry, or envy, or hate. Rather let me see the hearts you see, hearts needing the power of your love and grace in their lives.

Grace & Peace