The Biggest Barrier to Intimacy with God

One of the most depressing aspects of 9/11 is to realize that in a world where we can send men to the moon, there is so much ignorance and hatred within the human race that grown, educated men could fly to their own deaths and take thousands with them and think themselves heroes in the process.  It doesn’t seem we have come so far since WWII.  Sadly, this kind of hatred hides behind the pew of every church just waiting for a chance to infect Christians with a disease so debilitating that it is our greatest barrier we face when it comes to getting close to God.  That barrier is hating your Christian brother or sister.  Sadly, this sin is often the hardest barrier of all for believers to overcome and also one of the easiest sins to rationalize.  1 John 2 exposes this sin of rationalizing our hatred for others and gives us the keys to breaking this barrier to joyful fellowship with God.