I’m a murderer several times over.  Guilty as charged by my Lord. For my crime, I deserve to be burned up in hell-fire. Thank God I won’t be, though, having also been charged as innocent by virtue of Jesus’ covering righteousness.

Even so, it doesn’t feel good, having killed people. What’s worse yet is that I was in a stupor every time I did it. I didn’t realize what I was doing until awakened by Jesus. Here is how He got my attention. He said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5: 21, 22.

Although I haven’t physically murdered anyone, I most certainly have done so spiritually. I have killed by submitting to the urges of unrighteous anger in my heart. The blunt instrument I used in the murders was in the form of name-calling. I’ve called people “fool.” I’ve called them, without knowing it, “Raca,” which comes from the Aramaic word “reqa.” It means “empty-headed; a term that shows contempt for others, implying that they are stupid or inferior.

God doesn’t want me or any of His children to speak to others in this way. Words matter. Insults like this come from the same anger that can cause another to commit physical murder. We don’t want to take the chance of murdering another’s spirit.

To avoid name-calling is not enough, though. We don’t want to harbor unrighteous anger in our hearts. If we find it to be in us, it is most certainly an occasion to pray that the Lord will help us remove it.