By:
Amber Harbin
Before
we learn how to fight off hate, we need to know what the word 'hate'
means. According to Merriam-Webster, hate means an "intense
hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of
injury" or an
"extreme dislike or antipathy". Hate is a very powerful
word and emotion. It has the power to change a life, take a life, and
corrupt the soul. If we are not careful, we can let the hate from the
other person cause us to hate as well. Hate is a recurring cycle,
like a never-ending chain. Someone has to break the chain, make a
stand. One way to end hate is to not fuel it whatsoever. Fueling hate
with hate causes it to burn larger, harder, and causes more problems
than we want. It would be like if a car was on fire and you threw
gasoline on it. It wouldn't solve the issue of the car burning, in
fact, it would make it ten times worse. That is what hate is like.
Hate
is a waste of time. It makes you feel worn out, angry, and on edge
all the time. I know this because I used to be like that. I would let
what people said about me or do to me get under my skin. It made me
despise them, not wanting to be in their presence, and I sneered when
they came near. Now, when I say them, I am talking about my family
members and a few others that were at my old college. I was insecure
and was tired of being hated, bullied, and manipulated. I had enough.
However, instead of living in love, I walked in hate. I loathed my
family for what they did to me and I acted in a snobby way towards my old classmates. In fact, my insecurity caused me to think
I was better than them. I was so lost back then and I can't believe I
thought that about myself. By not walking in love, I was only
complicating the issues and the cycle just kept on going. I finally
decided that it was time to stop despising the people that hurt me
and I wanted to heal.
I
am a Christian and I believe I can't do anything without God's help.
You may have different beliefs, but I believe you can use some of the
tips I learned from God to fight off the hatred in this world. Even
if you are not a Christian, hating someone is a complete waste of
time. It drains your energy and deprives you of your destiny. From
personal experience, I feel so much better giving and loving, than
being full of hate for people that hurt me. If you want to be
happier, you have to learn to walk in love and fight off hate. In the
next post, I plan to actually talk about how to fight off hate. I
split some of the writing up because I doubt you want to read a
never-ending page on one subject. So I think it is best if I split
the posts. :)
Ephesians
4:31-32
Let
all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper)
and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor,
contention) and slander (evil speaking, abusive, or blasphemous
language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or
baseness of any kind).
And
become useful and helpful and kind to on another, tenderhearted
(compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted, forgiving one another
[readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Think about that.
With Love,
Amber
