“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”
~ Maya Angelou
As I mentioned yesterday, I have been under the weather this week. Being so has afforded me an opportunity to become something that I generally do not have the time to be: a slug. Yes, I have spent a lot of time either sitting in my recliner or sleeping in said recliner or bed. When sitting in my recliner, I have watched a lot of television, both live as well as varieties like Netflix.
This week, I even did something I have not done for a long time because I am usually too busy to do so. I watched the Grammy’s and the State of the Union. I cannot tell you how horrified I was seeing so much, for lack of a better word, hatred. The speeches at the Grammy’s were very anti-President. The reactions of many people at the State of the Union were as well.
Now, please, do not think that I am turning this reflection into a political commentary. What I am doing is pointing out the fact that acting out of hatred never gets anyone anywhere. The past day or two many news outlets have indicated, much to their own chagrin, that the “American people” seem to be speaking up against those who are spewing hatred. While many celebrities are going on anti-President rants, the public have been ignoring the celebrities, to the detriment of the Grammy’s ratings: the lowest in history.
People do not like hatred. They do not long tolerate those who operate out of hatred. That should be a message to all of us because we, as Christians, sometimes become rabid in our own causes. We forget the old adage, “Hate the sin; but, love the sinner”, and our words and actions oftentimes condemn, quite hatefully, the sinner. When we do that, we ruin our message. We become ignored.
When we engage in hatred, the devil wins. It is that simple. Nothing can be more divisive among God’s people than hatred.
We can have all the political opinions we want. We can have all the ideological principles we want. We can have extreme opinions of all kinds. We just should not lose the civility, the love, that helps us to engage in conversation and debate about them. If we lose the civility, if we lose the love, we lose our mission in life. We are, after all, supposed to be proclaiming the Kingdom of God. We do not do that with hate. We do that with love.
FAITH ACTION: Search your heart and, if there is any hatred in there toward anyone, ask the Lord to give you the grace you need to let it go.