The Christian Corner - Loving Who Hates You
Loving Who Hates You
“Forgive them father, for they know not what they have done.” Those were the words of Jesus Christ as he begged his father who art in heaven not to destroy those who have sought to destroy his son. The Lord teaches love and forgiveness towards others, whether those be family, friends, allies or even enemies. But who do we consider to be our enemy and if they hate us or we them, how do we look pass that hate to love? The answer is never an easy one, especially if that hate that is brought towards you has made you or anyone close to you suffer in anyway as Christ had suffered for your sins.
We try to love who hates us by first trying to understand them. We have to understand their lives and ask ourselves many questions. Why am I being hated? What has caused this person or persons to spew so much hate for me? Have I harmed them in anyway? How do I mend this hate? Then we have to look in our own selves and see if we are truly acting like a good Person. A Person committed to all life without any acts of Prejudice.
1. Hatred From Other Race
The different races of humanity has always been at odds for decades, even though now we are supposed to be much more civilized and understanding of each other differences, similarities, strength and weaknesses. Many of us tend to stick around people who we look and sound like, but seldom what we think like. Race hatred is a very big problem and the church should always invest in continues efforts to strike down this hate monster everywhere it turns it head. Race hating race stems from various factors, it may come from countries raiding and destroying other countries while there’s is kept beautiful and intact. It may come from one race always having a negative persona about another race. Race hating can simple start at financial decimation in a country. But whatever the cause, hate will spew and we have to continue batting for love of those who have begun to hate us.
2. Hatred From Other Religion
I have always told people that it is never good to be religious, but all person of God must strive to be righteous and spiritual. Being religious can and have led to conflicts, wars and death in the name of some God some religion is serving. Religious wars and atrocities have been fought for centuries and have led to the killings of millions of people in the name of God. Remember, history is not something to forget and many people of different religious background still remembers the pain and suffering their forefathers have gone through and many have taken a life time vow of revenge while some have found peace, forgiven and have moved on. Hatred from other religion can also stem from one religion condemning another as being fake and not worshipping a true God. But as human beings we must remember that we are people of different color and race. People will determine their God of worship based upon their own culture and history.
Let us be frank for a while, people always say that the color of Jesus doesn’t matter and his race is insignificant and all that. But would a white man be comfortable bowing down to a Korean Jesus? Or a Korean be comfortable bowing down to an Indian Hindu Jesus. God created us in his own image and hence we recreated God in the image of us.
3. Hatred From Neighbor
Love they neighbor as thy self is the second commandment. That means you must love your neighbor even if your neighbor hates you. I am sure that many of us are probably living with the coined term, ‘Neighbors from Hell.’ There may be lifelong conflicts happening between you and your neighbor which has caused you to end up in court or otherwise. But the healing begins with forgiveness, after forgiveness than you must work on dishing out real love for your neighbor. Loving your neighbor does not mean that you put on a plastic smile and wave each time the front door opens. It means that you execute genuine care and love at all times when it matters and is needed. Loving your neighbor can be even more difficult than loving a national from another country, as your neighbor is the person living closest to you and can affect your life directly. Some of these love will take time to foster, but at the end of the day when love and peace of mind is the reward, your soul will feel much content.
4. Hatred From People of Different Political Views
People have strong political views and the truth is that many are ignorant in this area and once your political view is not of their own it can spew hate. This can be a difficult one as people political views can be a harsh knock on your living or concept of what is morally right or wrong. But as with any other reason why hate is spewed, it will take understanding and dialogue to help love to foster in anyway.
5. Hatred From Different Social Classes
Some people may view hatred from people of different social background as envy and jealousy Others may view is has people having an unfair advantage in society. In most cases, the rich do not mingle with the poor. The poor people believe than the rich think they are beneath them, this is a nice motive for hate. Loving the poor and loving the rich is not difficult today. It is just people with different amounts of money. But for many, they must work on their mindset of what they believe about most poor people or what they believe about most rich people.
Remember, Toxic Emotions can lead to serious health Issues. Love keeps you smiling and much healthier.
© 2019 Clive Williams