DEVOTIONAL: A weekly reflection on faith, family and life in Jamaica.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12
Something strange is happening in Jamaica. The murder figures are going down, and that deserves to be acknowledged. August 2026 recorded just 37 murders, one of Jamaica’s lowest monthly totals in more than 30 years. Police have spent years going after guns, gangs and organised violence, and the results are showing.
Yet behind some of those encouraging numbers is another Jamaica that statistics do not always capture neatly.
It is the Jamaica behind the closed front door. The couple who cannot speak without shouting. The brother and sister who have stopped talking over a piece of family land. The children fighting over Mama’s house before the funeral flowers have even dried. The boyfriend who cannot accept that the relationship is over. The wife living in fear. The husband too embarrassed to tell anybody that he too is being abused. The cousin who believes one room, one lot, one piece of “dead lef” belongs to him because “a so Grandma did say”.
And sometimes the argument does not end with somebody walking away. Sometimes somebody dies.
More than 7,000 domestic violence cases were reported to the police in Jamaica during 2025, and 34 murders were linked to domestic incidents. Police themselves caution that even this does not represent the full picture because many victims never report their experiences to the JCF. Some go directly to the courts or other agencies. Others tell nobody at all.
Domestic violence is not only husband against wife. Police say it occurs between brothers, sisters, cousins and other relatives too. That matters because we often think of violence as something that comes through the gate.
Increasingly, some of Jamaica’s most dangerous conflicts are already inside the yard.
The enemy is sometimes familiar
In St James earlier this year, police revealed that at least 11 of the parish’s first 26 murders were connected to domestic or interpersonal disputes. Some involved arguments over land and property. Police even said that certain murders classified as gang related began as personal disputes, with people later using gangsters to settle the score.
Think about that. People are prepared to kill over land. Kill over relationships. Kill because somebody disrespected them. Kill over something belonging to a dead relative.
We have a Jamaican expression for that last one: dead lef.
It sounds almost harmless when we say it, but there is nothing harmless about what can follow. The Government has repeatedly warned that unresolved estates can tear families apart. This year, the Justice Ministry again pointed to disputes and even violence arising from property left by deceased relatives, including a homicide case in St James.
In Jamaica, somebody can spend 70 years building a house, raising children and acquiring a little land, then die without making their wishes clear. Suddenly the same family that gathered around the Christmas table is measuring bedrooms.
One says Daddy promised him the downstairs. Another says Mama told her she would get the land. Somebody changes a lock. Somebody cuts a fence. Somebody threatens somebody. Years of resentment come pouring out.
The problem was never really the boundary peg.
It was the condition of the heart.
What happened to love?
Jesus warned of a time when lawlessness would increase and “the love of many shall wax cold.” That verse hits differently when you look around Jamaica today.
It is easy to read prophecy and search for earthquakes, wars and great global events. But perhaps we should also look across the dinner table.
Paul wrote that perilous times would be marked by people who were lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, unloving, unforgiving, without self control and brutal. Those words were written centuries ago, but they describe behaviours we recognise immediately.
A man decides that if he cannot have a woman, nobody else will. Two relatives decide a piece of land is worth more than their relationship. A disagreement becomes disrespect. Disrespect becomes revenge. Anger becomes violence.
And afterward everybody asks the same question: How did it reach this far?
Usually, it did not reach there overnight. Cold hearts develop slowly. Forgiveness is postponed. Pride is fed. Grudges are rehearsed. People stop listening. Nobody wants to be the first to apologise. Then one terrible moment changes several families forever.
The statistics require honesty
Christians should not twist facts to make Scripture sound true.
Jamaica’s murder rate is not presently exploding. It is falling significantly. Police are recording some of the lowest murder levels the country has seen in decades.
That is good news.
Faith should never require us to deny good news.
But falling national crime does not mean every spiritual or social problem has disappeared. Police are increasingly concerned about interpersonal and domestic conflict. Churches in St James said just this week that pastors are regularly encountering troubled relationships and domestic violence and are being called upon to counsel families in crisis.
Perhaps that is where the warning for us lies.
A country can become safer statistically while individual hearts remain full of anger. We can strengthen laws and still weaken families. We can seize guns but fail to control our tongues. We can lock up gangsters while refusing to forgive our own brother.
Government can write legislation. Police can patrol communities. Courts can issue orders.
But none of them can manufacture love inside the human heart.
That transformation belongs to God.
Before it reaches the police station
Maybe the Christian response to violence begins much earlier than we think. Before the domestic violence report. Before the restraining order. Before the machete is picked up. Before somebody calls 119. Before the family ends up fighting in court over dead lef.
It begins with humility.
Make the will. Have the difficult conversation. Walk away from the argument. Seek counselling. Tell somebody when you are being abused. Forgive where forgiveness is possible. Set boundaries where they are necessary.
Do not allow pride to convince you that walking away makes you weak. And do not use Christianity to tell an abused person to remain somewhere dangerous. Seeking safety is not a failure of faith.
Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God and to love our neighbour. Paul later put it plainly: “Love does no harm to a neighbour.”
That is an extraordinarily simple test of our Christianity.
Not how loudly we sing on Sabbath or Sunday. Not how many Bible verses we know. Not what title we hold at church.
Ask instead: Does my presence bring safety or fear? Does my family experience my faith as love? Can I disagree without becoming cruel? Can I lose an argument without needing revenge? Can I forgive? Can I let something go?
Because when love grows cold, the consequences can eventually become statistics.
But when God changes a heart, the story can end differently.
This Week’s Reflection
Before examining Jamaica, examine yourself. Is there somebody you have allowed bitterness to grow against? Is there a family disagreement that has gone on too long? Is pride preventing a conversation that needs to happen?
Do what is within your power to make peace.
Not next year. Not after somebody dies.
Now.
Prayer: Lord, soften our hearts. Teach us to love when pride tells us to fight, to forgive when bitterness tells us to hold on, and to seek help before anger becomes destruction. Bring healing into Jamaica’s homes and families. Make us people who do no harm, who pursue peace and whose lives reflect Your love. Amen.
Read deeper: Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1–5; Romans 13:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5.
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