Hate
I found an article that someone posted on Facebook titled "I'm Christian, unless you're gay". The article wasn't a scathing diatribe on religions that teach that homosexuality is a sin as I expected. It was about hate and love. It got me thinking about hate. There has been a lot of it in the news lately. Was Trayvon Martin killed because of racism or was he killed in an act of self defense? Was the Iraqi woman beaten by people who are anti-Muslim or was she victimized by her family? What about the shootings in Tulsa?
Everyone at one point in their life has hated someone. Be honest now. Do you now or have you ever hated anyone? How about strongly disliked someone? I have.
There are a lot of reasons why someone would hate someone else. She stole my boyfriend. He had an affair. That should have been my job/promotion,but she got it. My boss is so unfair. She is always given preferential treatment. He's a Republican/Democrat/Green Party/Tea Party. He likes Rush Limbaugh. She sits around and does nothing but have kids and collect welfare. He's been in prison. She insulted/disrespected me. He does drugs/drinks all the time. She's Catholic/Jehovah's Witness/Mormon. They're cults. They do strange things. He's ruining our country. He's racist/a cracker/an illegal immigrant. "I really hate her, I'll think of a reason later." (That's from a country song.) Any of this sound familiar to you? If you haven't said or thought it yourself, you've heard it from someone you know.
Hate is the most caustic thing that can be applied to a human soul. The worst part of it is that it is self applied. I saw a sign in a Lutheran minister's office once. I may not have the wording exact. Hating someone is like taking poison and expecting them to die. Pretty graphic and pretty true. Unless you go out and commit violence against that person, your hate does nothing except hurt you. I know for a fact that several people I used to really hate are out there doing just fine. I know that there are a few people who hate me. As you can tell by reading this, I'm doing well. Their negative feelings have not hurt me at all.
I'm sure this is not news to any of you. We have all been taught that hate is wrong. What do we do about it? It's so complicated.
I found a quote from President Dieter Uchtdorf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although he was talking about holding grudges, I think his advice could apply to hating people too. He said,"Stop it." Very simple and to the point. Just stop it. You're wasting energy, emotion and time that could and probably should be spent elsewhere. Stop it.
There are probably some people out there that think that this is too hard to do. Hate is such a complicated thing. Maybe, but we have a frontal lobe and are able to control ourselves. This is not hard. You wouldn't eat spoiled food or drink dirty water. You wouldn't do these things because you would become physically sick, right? You can stop hating because hating can make you emotionally and spiritually sick. It's not hard, it takes discipline. It can be done.
Think of all the violence that could be stopped if we laid aside the hatreds we hold. What could we accomplish? How much better would we feel for not having that burden?
All it takes is one step. Just stop it.
Everyone at one point in their life has hated someone. Be honest now. Do you now or have you ever hated anyone? How about strongly disliked someone? I have.
There are a lot of reasons why someone would hate someone else. She stole my boyfriend. He had an affair. That should have been my job/promotion,but she got it. My boss is so unfair. She is always given preferential treatment. He's a Republican/Democrat/Green Party/Tea Party. He likes Rush Limbaugh. She sits around and does nothing but have kids and collect welfare. He's been in prison. She insulted/disrespected me. He does drugs/drinks all the time. She's Catholic/Jehovah's Witness/Mormon. They're cults. They do strange things. He's ruining our country. He's racist/a cracker/an illegal immigrant. "I really hate her, I'll think of a reason later." (That's from a country song.) Any of this sound familiar to you? If you haven't said or thought it yourself, you've heard it from someone you know.
Hate is the most caustic thing that can be applied to a human soul. The worst part of it is that it is self applied. I saw a sign in a Lutheran minister's office once. I may not have the wording exact. Hating someone is like taking poison and expecting them to die. Pretty graphic and pretty true. Unless you go out and commit violence against that person, your hate does nothing except hurt you. I know for a fact that several people I used to really hate are out there doing just fine. I know that there are a few people who hate me. As you can tell by reading this, I'm doing well. Their negative feelings have not hurt me at all.
I'm sure this is not news to any of you. We have all been taught that hate is wrong. What do we do about it? It's so complicated.
I found a quote from President Dieter Uchtdorf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although he was talking about holding grudges, I think his advice could apply to hating people too. He said,"Stop it." Very simple and to the point. Just stop it. You're wasting energy, emotion and time that could and probably should be spent elsewhere. Stop it.
There are probably some people out there that think that this is too hard to do. Hate is such a complicated thing. Maybe, but we have a frontal lobe and are able to control ourselves. This is not hard. You wouldn't eat spoiled food or drink dirty water. You wouldn't do these things because you would become physically sick, right? You can stop hating because hating can make you emotionally and spiritually sick. It's not hard, it takes discipline. It can be done.
Think of all the violence that could be stopped if we laid aside the hatreds we hold. What could we accomplish? How much better would we feel for not having that burden?
All it takes is one step. Just stop it.
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