Good morning. In the midst of the horrors that have been revealed in the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, I find one of the Russian propaganda techniques especially interesting.
Early in WWII the Germans and Soviet Russia teamed up for the invasion of Poland. This was unexpected since Hitler had made his distrust of Stalin and communism well known. Part of Poland, known as Eastern Poland, was awarded to the Soviets. The people of this part of Poland identified themselves, along with an area known as Soviet Ukraine, as Ukrainian. As the war went on and Germany invaded Russia, some people from this region sided with the Germans against the Russians, who they felt had long been aggressors wanting to absorb the Ukraine into Soviet Russia. The Germans used these Ukrainian “soldiers” as shock troops against Russia, and they became known for their savagery. For this reason, Putin and the Russians who have orchestrated the recent Ukrainian invasion are calling the people of the Ukraine “Nazis.” They are relying upon old wounds and hatred to justify the evils of today in the minds of the Russian people.
Now for more truth: When Hitler’s army invaded Soviet Russia more than 4.5 million Ukrainians immediately joined the Russian army to fight against Hitler. During WWII Hitler and the Nazis murdered approximately 1.3 million Ukrainian Jews and 3-4 million non-Jewish Ukrainians. In all, at least 5.2 million Ukrainians died at the hands of the Nazis.
What this means is that what the Russian propagandists are saying today, “Ukrainian Nazis” is an incredible lie. The Ukrainians are a people group who suffered mightily from the Nazis. After WWII they were at the mercy of Stalin. Between 3.5 to 7 million more Ukrainians died, with the most used figure for the “Ukrainian genocide” of the post war Soviets being “at least” 3.9 million. Hatred, distrust, fear, and aggression are carried through the years, and are often passed along from one generation to the next. For healing to occur, something greater than these failures must become to be recognized.
1 Corinthians 13 is called “the love chapter” of the letter to the Corinthians. It is called this because verses 1-8 of the chapter give us a magnificent definition of agape love. I will share those verses in a bit, but I would like to especially draw your attention to the words that end verse 5: love keeps no record of wrongs. Those words don’t usually jump off the page at us for their earth-shattering importance, but take a moment to consider that truth: love keeps no record of wrongs.
Imagine the course of human history if we, as the human race, would adhere to that truth. Imagine what the world would be like if people “kept no record of wrongs.” Imagine what your home would be like if you, and all who dwell with you, “kept no record of wrongs.”
I am not suggesting that we are keeping a written journal of all the injuries we have suffered through the years, but oh my, it is so hard to forget those wounds! This is especially true since our true enemy does all that he can to constantly remind us of every injury, every sin against us that others have committed through the years.
As you read the balance of 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a please consider what your life would be like if you endeavored to follow the way of agape love in your relationships. The opposite consequence is that we continue to feel the pain, continue to suffer from distrust, continue to fail to move on, continue to be vulnerable to the enemy’s whispers of hatred. Only love, the agape love of God, will win the victory.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a
God bless you in a life of love today.
Vern