Romans 3:13

Romans 3:13 says, Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: God's people, instead of proclaiming Him to the world, were filled with deceit in their words.  We must remember who the author of lies and deceit is, and that is Satan himself.  When we do not live by the truth of God, we live by the lies of Satan.  There is no neutral ground. We cannot proclaim deceitful words without being as poisonous as a serpent.  Verse fourteen adds, Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:  Now, we can interpret this to mean full of profanity, but I believe it is much more than that.  It is speaking against God or calling for Him to punish others while forgiving us.  This leads to a bitterness in life.  We are not to ask God's punishment on others out of hatred, but are to ask His forgiveness of them out of love.  The Jews in Paul's day had forgotten this, and they had started despising other people.  We must guard against the same attitude today.  Verse fifteen continues, Their feet are swift to shed blood:  Paul moved from their speech to their actions.  They were glad to see those that they felt superior to destroyed, even Jesus Himself.  We as followers of Christ today must not be quick to shed the blood of those we see as a threat to God or to ourselves.  God calls us to witness out of love that flows from Him.  Verse sixteen states, Destruction and misery are in their ways:  We are called not to destroy the world and all that is in it, but to work to preserve it.  We hear so many times today of people destroying property or even burning church buildings just for spite.  I believe that the misery is more theirs than that of those whose property they destroy.  As God's people, we are to live lives of joy in Him, no matter what evil goes on around us.  Verse seventeen adds, And the way of peace have they not known:  There is only one way to know true peace, and that is through acknowledging Christ as our Savior and Lord, so naturally those who deny Him can never know peace.  Verse eighteen continues, There is no fear of God before their eyes.  When people have no fear of, or respect for God, we cannot expect them to have any respect for anyone else.  It is the great responsibility that God gives us, to allow us to deny His very existence.