Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it. – Martin Luther King, Jnr.
There are two kinds of hatred I believe Martin Luther King, Jnr. was addressing here.
- The kind that makes us value someone less than another… a prideful malice of rank and order.
- Hatred as a response to evils perpetrated. An easily justifiable grudge that fuels retaliation and revenge.
In both cases, hatred starts off as a seed. And like a weed grows wild and untamed, overtaking what was once a beautiful garden, twisting its beauty. When it reaches its full height, it does not whisper but screams insidiously in our ears to do its bidding. It flares up hot, red and all consuming, confusing our once clear vision down to a narrow darkness leading to the desolation of heart and spirit… and often lives.
Matt 5:43-48 (MSG) says,
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that (says Jesus). I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the loveable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”
God is love. When it comes to hatred that we face around about us and the darkness within us, it’s love that releases us, brings our lives into peaceful harmony and illuminates the way forward.
God, who is love, permeates the fabric of our beings and of this world, and when our vision is illuminated with love we see hatred for what it really is… not something that stands tall and oppressive over us that could kill us with a single strike, but as a disease that cripples and destroys from the inside out…
And we have the cure.
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Hey, I’d like to understand. Why is so easy become filled of hatred once we are hurt?
Hey Mario, Great question, I’ve been trying to seek this answer out myself. I don’t have a correct straight forward answer but I do have an experience to share.
I think the reason why I became so filled with hatred when I was hurt is because my focus immediately switched from God to Me. For me, feelings like hate and anger became the number one distraction of my purpose for living.
For me, I had ever single right and justification for the way I was feeling and that was dangerous because I played the victim. I was holding on to hot coals that only burned me. Hate and anger distracts us from his love.
My only way out of this was to submit to God and not submit to hate. It is through extreme submission and extravagant love to God that we find full freedom in the world; which includes hate, anger, pride, malice etc.
I hope this helps.