Leviticus 19:1-2,15-18

You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:16)

It is amazing that God would have to institute a commandment that would tell a man not to shed innocent blood for profit. It tells us much about who we are, that we would need to be told.

There is something worth noting in our culture. If you walk into a Planned Parenthood, you need cash. If you walk into a Crisis Pregnancy center, you don’t. In fact, they won’t take your cash if you have it. Abortion is an industry. Take the profit away, and the industry (like any other industry) will dry up. When you take the money away, what is left? It is here that love becomes apparent.

We looked at the nature of false witness several weeks ago. False witness and murder go together. Speaking of the devil, Jesus said “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for his is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

This week’s reflection has been written by Anglicans for Life’s Board Member, the Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn. Rev. Blackburn is the Rector of Christ the King, an Anglican Fellowship in Boone, NC.