Inspecting our spiritual DNA
We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:11,12,16
Daniel J. Habben
According to a 2003 study, 16 million men from mainland Asia and southern Siberia (8% of the male population) are descended from the once-feared Mongol ruler, Genghis Khan. Wouldnāt it be interesting to find out how many of Genghis Khanās traits were passed down through the generations?
Youāre probably not descended from Genghis Kahn, but Lent is an opportunity to inspect your spiritual DNA. What you find might surprise you. You may be more like Cain than you would like to admit! But youāre also more like Christ than you may realize.
Like Cain
Letās start with our similarity to Cain. He bludgeoned his brother to death. Oh, there may be no murder weapon buried in our closets, but consider how the Bible says, āAnyone who hates a brother or sister is a murdererā (1 John 3:15). Hatred, like murder, wishes the other person didnāt exist. That makes our workplace especially homicidal, doesnāt it? Lazy coworkers. Inept managers. Ungrateful customers. Theyāre all easy targets for our angerāan emotion that can easily boil over into hatred when not cooled down with daily repentance. Even when we repent of our hatred, we often allow ourselves to silently seethe. Yes, weāre more like Cain than weād like to admit!
Like Cain, we should rightly expect God to drive us from his presence. Instead, God delivers us into the arms of his Son. John wrote: āThis is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.ā Jesusā cry from the cross, āFather, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doingā (Luke 23:34), was like the shout of a hiker who distracts a charging grizzly away from others by making himself the bearās target. God answered Jesusā cry by turning his righteous anger away from us and instead bringing down the full weight of his wrath on his Son. With Jesusā innocent death, Godās wrath was spent. We sinners are spared.
Like Christ
Now with our new lease on eternal life, we who can still so easily hate like Cain are exhorted by the apostle John to love like Christ.
Love like Christ? Donāt think itās possible? Well, letās inspect our spiritual DNA again. Jesus once said: āI am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in youā (John 14:20). We may be more like Cain than weād like to admit, but believers are also more like Christ than they may realize. Think of how an electric power bar goes from ādeadā to āliveā when itās plugged into an outlet. Through Baptism we have gone from dead to alive . . . in Christ. His love isnāt just racing to us; itās also racing through us, the way electricity pulses through a power bar to give life to all the appliances plugged into it. With Jesus, we can show love to everyoneāeven the difficult people.
Yes, you share spiritual DNA with Cain. But through Baptism youāve inherited the spiritual DNA of Christ. You have his forgiveness. And you also have his power to show love to others.
Contributing editor Daniel Habben is pastor at St. Peter, Saint Albert, Alberta, Canada.
SUBMIT YOUR STORY
Do you have a manuscript, idea, or story from your own life you’d like to share for use in Forward in Christ or on wels.net? Use our online form to share it to our editorial office for consideration.
SUBSCRIBE TO FORWARD IN CHRIST
Get inspirational stories, spiritual help, and synod news fromĀ Forward in Christ every month. Print and digital subscriptions are available from Northwestern Publishing House.
Author:Ā Daniel J. Habben
Volume 104, Number 3
Issue: March 2017
Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ Ā© 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article.Ā Contact us