Hating others

If you look at the news comments under certain stories like ones about GLBT's, minorities, immigrants and other religions you will find hateful comments. People use the internet to express things they can not do in public. The problem is the more wide spread the comments the more others think it is acceptable to say it in public as well. It is easy to hate someone else because they are different or you are scared of them and what they might do.

IF you have been hurt by someone it is also easy to then categorize everyone in that they did this therefore I hate them all box. What did Jesus say about hating someone for what they did to you?

Matthew 18

A Story About Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone[d] won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times.[e]

23 “So God’s kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds[f] of silver. 25 He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king. So the master ordered that he and everything he owned be sold, even his wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.

26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free.

28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’

29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’

30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He told the judge that the other servant owed him money, and that servant was put in jail until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They felt very sorry for the man. So they went and told their master everything that happened.

32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant. You begged me to forgive your debt, and I said you did not have to pay anything!33 So you should have given that other man who serves with you the same mercy I gave you.’ 34 The master was very angry, so he put the servant in jail to be punished. And he had to stay in jail until he could pay everything he owed.

35 “This king did the same as my heavenly Father will do to you. You must forgive your brother or sister with all your heart, or my heavenly Father will not forgive you.”

So then hating someone for hurting you is wrong because you in turn have hurt others as well. Jesus spoke a lot about hating others. He did not mince words about it.

Matthew 5:43-48Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly. 45 If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. 46 If you love only those who love you, why should you get a reward for that? Even the tax collectors do that. 47 And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than anyone else. Even the people who don’t know God are nice to their friends. 48 What I am saying is that you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

John spoke of what Christ taught him as well and this is what he says about it:

1 John 4:19-21English Standard Version (ESV)

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So then how do we forgive them? By asking God to forgive them. Then we ask God to forgive us for hating them and to take away that hate. Each time you start thinking about how much they hurt you do this. Eventually it will sink in and you will start to heal. Forgiveness is more then just forgiving others is is also healing.

You also have to remember that just because one kind of person hurt you does not mean that everyone like them are the same way. This is stereotyping and it is wrong. I hope that you will find a way to get over your hate as I work on mine as well.