LOVE TRUMPS HATE by Rand K Walden

In the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign, the liberal party came out with the slogan, LOVE TRUMPS HATE. But with Anti-fa and others who have caused much ruin, physical injury and pain to otherwise peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders, that slogan doesn't really engage or embody the whole democratic party.

However, this should have been the slogan of believers everywhere who are Christians first and Americans second. Why? you may ask. Because love does trump hate and it's not a matter for most Christians whether they support Trump, the president or not but it's a matter of love verses hate and good versus evil.

The majority of Christians believe Trump is a means to an end, the end being, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, freedom of religion, or at the very least, a last chance to reach the lost with the gospel of Christ. If you are a Christian, and a liberal, I suggest you don't know what the Bible teaches. Yes, there are varying views and beliefs when it comes to Christianity, the religion. But God doesn't sway one way or the other. God is light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:17). I like that slogan, Love Trumps Hate, but not for the same reason the liberals do. Jesus said, "be not overcome by evil but overcome evil with good".

In Genesis 4:7, God tells man "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." I believe you'll agree, that our country is not doing what is right. So what must we do as God's children? We must rule over it. Sin desires to have you. It is crouching at your door. You must rule over sin. God gave us (mankind) a mandate in Genesis 1:28. It says, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

We all like the "be fruitful and multiply" part but the other is left undone. God also told us to "replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion". The word "subdue" means to "have control over". Do you just have a "live and let live" attitude?" Are you the type of Christian who says, "well, I don't want to judge"? How are you going to rule and reign with Christ if you have never learned to rule over the things that touch your life?

If something or someone is affecting you, causing you to sin or hurting those you love, you have a divine obligation to, as the Bible says, rule over that situation.

How do you do that? you may ask. That's where prayer comes in. Jesus said, "I give unto you power (authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." - Luke 10:19.

That authority which Christ gives is basically the same authority a policeman has. A policeman has the duty to protect and serve the community. It is their job to make sure we live in a peace filled community. And, all things being equal, if someone breaks a law that is potentially harmful to others or causes unrest to the community, that policeman has the responsibility to arrest that person, bind them in handcuffs and put them in jail. Our authority as sons and daughters of God, comes with responsibilities as well.

Paul the Apostle wrote, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (weak) but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:4,5 )

Jesus also taught the power of agreement. In Matthew 18:18,19, he said, "Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.…"

Let LOVE TRUMP HATE but as a believer on your Lord Jesus Christ and not as a political party. What we are facing today is not a black versus white issue or even a wrong versus right issue. But it is the love of God versus hate and love is a verb. We must act. Faith without action is dead, being alone and faith works by love.