Hate and anger
(Lk. 15:25-32)

In the parable of a prodigal in the Luke, while the second son was a prodigal run away from home, the elder son was a prodigal at home.

1. The angry generation

The father held a great celebration festival for the returned son but the elder son was angry about the father's forgiveness and love toward his younger brother. (Lk. 15:28) We are living in the era of anger. There is anger between children and parents; neighbors; husband and wife. People have various emotions, but it's natural for us to feel anger or happy. However, it will destroy our neighbors and communities when we cannot control our anger. That's why the Word of God asks us not to let the sun go down while you are still anger. (Eph. 4:26) Therefore, when we have anger, we have to put it down before God and should be controlled by the Holy Spirit not to commit sins.

2. People relying on their self-righteousness

The elder son said he had been faithful to help his father and had not been against the will of his father. (Lk. 15:29) The elder son showed his righteousness and judged his younger brother as a sinner blamed for mismanaging and losing what he had. Someone who is filled with his self-righteousness tend to judge faults and mistakes of other people. While Jesus was on the earth, high-priests and Pharisees serving God but full of their self-righteousness drove Jesus to be on the cross. There is no one who is innocent. We are all sinners. Only Jesus is righteousness. (Ps. 7:11) Therefore, we should be humble and confess that Jesus is the righteousness thereby being proud of Jesus.

3. Negative self-concept

The elder son complained that the father had never given even a goat to him, even though the father killed fatten calf for the younger son who betrayed his father and ran away. He had negative image on his father and misunderstood his father as a stingy man. To his elder son, the father said everything was for the elder son. (Lk. 15:31) When a ship sails, the rudder decides the direction of the ship. And the self-image on us is shaping our life, so we should have positive image. Let us have positive attitude and image for ourselves with positive words and thoughts.