Daily Devotional

In these verses, John reveals that agapé originates outside us—from God. But in verse 12, John reminds us that hate also originates outside us.
Hate comes from Satan. Hate is really love, twisted, diverted from its intended object and centered upon a false object. This is what Satan seeks to do with the love of God—divert it, twist it, mutilate it.
Perhaps Cain was unconscious of the fact that he was under the control of another mind, of another purpose. He felt no premonition that something was taking over in his life. It cautions us that an indicator that we are at the disposal of Satan is that we feel like we’re in charge of ourselves.
The brothers both brought an offering to the Lord—Abel brought the firstlings of his flock, while Cain brought the fruits of his field. In Hebrews 11:4, we are told that Abel brought his offering to God “by faith”—his obedient response to God’s command. In contrast, Cain devised his own plan for an offering and brought the first fruits of the field. It was rejected and Cain was angry (Genesis 4:5).
Even then, according to the account, Cain was not judged by God. God gave Cain another opportunity to do what he should have done previously. God warns Cain against selfish anger, which leads to sin (Genesis 4:6, 7). But even when warned, there was no change in Cain’s heart. Cain believed that he had not been treated fairly. At that moment, Satan’s silent control began. The result was Cain killing his brother.
Hate is our lashing out at others because God will not permit us to be our own god. Cain refused to accept God’s assessment, and his anger at the invisible power of God became focused on a visible object—Abel.
Though hate is directed at a human object, it is always an attack upon God.

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