Don’t Be Bound By Hate

18 Aug

“I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.”  ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I never like to admit this; but, I have hated before.  It is not pretty.  It is not right.  I do not think it is normal.  But, it is something that can easily creep into any of our lives.  Hatred is debilitating.  It is never good.  It cannot be “harnessed for good”.  All it can do is rip apart and destroy.  It destroys relationships between others, it destroys nations and peoples, and it can destroy the very soul itself.

It seems to me that there are certain aspects of history and of our society that feed off of hate.  It spreads hatred and rejoices when hatred divides others.  The scars received from hatred are very deep and they are extremely hard to heal.  I have good news in this regard, though:  love can heal, and even transform, the scars of hatred.

As Jesus hung on the cross, He hung upon one of the ultimate symbols of hatred and violence.  Yet His death on the cross transformed a symbol of hate into a symbol of love.  He took away all vestiges of hate from the cross.  Love can do that because God is love and God can do that.

Do not feel that you have to be trapped in a dynamic of hate.  You can be the person that breaks the bond and spell of hate by being an ultimate person of love.  If you feel you do not have it within yourself to do so, you are right.  Alone, we cannot break the terror and tyranny of hate.  With God’s love, though, we can stand face to face with hate and dismantle it.

Love will always win.  Stick with love.  Let go of the burden of hate.

FAITH ACTION:  Let go of any hate that may have taken root in your heart and pray that God’s peace and love may come upon all people.