"Some people are like pox," she told me and I paused staring at her quizzically.
"Like… chicken pox?" I asked.
"Yeah, like they are a pox on other people's lives. They spew hate and it spreads like an STD, a disease, a plague and ends up affecting everyone… just by how they treat others."
I thought her description was amusing and interesting although I hadn't likened hate to chicken pox or some other disease that's contagious.
Yet there are indeed haters in the world.
And haters have the ability to spread their message like wildfire, like dominoes, like a bad cases of untreated herpes overnight… infecting others and creating such huge hate that it threatens to overshadow love like an ugly unclean blanket.
Haters Of Jesus & Christians…
There are the haters of Jesus Christ, the haters of Christians. A vocal outcry of hate towards Christians... ----> who speak of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins has unfortunately led many Christians to hide their faith, to minimize it, to smash it down and keep it tucked away for fear that they will be singled out with hate. As Christians Jesus doesn't want us to condemn others for having different faiths… instead, He would be one who would encourage open dialogue among people, encouraging us to extend love and care anyway. We shouldn't squash our faith but let it shine brightly as we each have a story that led us to Jesus. Luckily in the United States we have freedom of speech and hold the right to speak of our love for the Lord and yet it seems to be an unspoken social rule to not speak of Him or even utter "Merry Christmas". Unfortunately in other parts of the world someone could be openly persecuted or even killed for professing their love for Jesus Christ which is heartbreakingly sad. And yet even with freedom of speech how incredibly dismaying to know we love Jesus so much, that each time we ponder the enormity of what He did for us it brings tears to our eyes and yet to not ever speak of it…. that is unfortunate.
Women Hating Women…
There are women hating other women just because they are fit, thin, wealthy, just because of who their married to, what they drive, what they have… the list goes on. A woman hating another woman based on her looks, her address, etc is not really hating her but envying her. Jealousy is what is at the core here and yet hate like this is based on ignorance. Why would we believe a woman has it all based on what she drives? This is such misinformed thinking and we must be mindful that the woman driving the relatively new Lexus could be counting dollars in her purse, slices of bread in her pantry and wondering how she's going to feed her children that week… because her newly divorced ex hasn't paid child support and she's still job searching. We need to look past what we see. Looking past the exterior and remembering there is a person with a whole life we know nothing about, that is maybe breaking inside and just getting by… instead of spewing hate based on skewed and wrong assumptions we can all choose to extend kindness instead.
Hate Toward Certain Individuals…
There are the haters of homosexual individuals in communities all over the world. As Christian's we know the bible states that God made man; Adam and then Eve. We know the Lord designed man and woman like He did for a reason, to compliment each other, for companionship and reproduction. We don't have to agree with the views of someone who states they are homosexual. As Christians we don't have to agree with a lot of things in life. There are Christians who break away from the traditional views of marriage and certainly not all Christians spew hate toward individuals who are gay yet it does still unfortunately occur today. Being a Christian we are called to love, not hate and not bully. That's the foundation of being a Christian… knowing Jesus Christ died for us, for our sins and being thankful we have His grace, His mercy although far from perfect… having a heart of giving, one of thankfulness and kindness toward others. When we spew hate at a certain group of people we fail as Christians and misrepresent our Lord.
Hating Someone Based On Color…
There are the haters of people of different colors, haters of interracial marriage, haters of someone being viewed as different based purely on color of skin versus being viewed as a person with feelings, a past, present and future. It doesn't make sense to hate someone based on color. It doesn't make sense to hate an entire race of people merely because you've been wronged by someone white, hispanic, black etc. It would be ludicrous to say: "I hate all Vietnamese people because I was raped by a Vietnamese man." That's complete insanity. And yet people may subscribe to this screwed up mentality when they've been wronged by one person or their ancestors have been many moons ago. Instead we must remember that each time we hate someone based on color we are actually engaging in great harm to all people. God hates sin but not the sinner…. let's agree that we wholeheartedly hate the sins of people (of all colors) but love people. That is such a victory and one we can set an example of each and everyday.
When we are messengers of God's word, when we value what Jesus did for us, when we look past the superficial exterior of someone and instead view them as someone who has had triumphs, struggles, losses, and joys… when we acknowledge they have experienced the lows, highs and in betweens of life…. when we see them as people, people very similar to ourselves, then we can do what God called us to do…
LOVE.
© gps-gracepowerstrength.blogspot.com ~ 2013
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