This was very good. I applaud that you took a subject that has become the elephant in just about every room and talked about it openly. There is a lot in this.
I am a person of strong opinions and emotions, with a passion for justice and for truth. This can become toxic very quickly if I don’t bow to Jesus with every breath.
And I see this everywhere now, this all consuming hate. It’s one reason I know He will be coming soon. We can no longer disagree; everything is a grudge match. Ideas are blood sport.
It’s a struggle to love the morbidly evil and gratuitously cruel, I won’t lie. But the longer I follow Jesus the more light shines into dark places—and so I look, even if I want to turn away from the me that can sometimes be in those places of hatred—I still look. Because Jesus is worth my all.
Hatred is a major source of conflict in this world, though it is not the only one. The fact is that conflict is the natural state of human nature. We live conflicted lives of self-centeredness. If we are not drawn to internal conflict, with double-mindedness and second-guessing ourselves, we are conflicted with our neighbours, friends, and family. Ultimately, the principal conflict is between God and ourselves.
One of the greatest gifts God gave to humanity through the Gospel is the conflict-resolution aspects of His influence. He leads us to peace, the Shalom that is so much more than the lack of conflict. When pursued properly, it ends the hatred source of conflict. The Spirit provides the possibility of the motivations of God's overwhelming love as He forms us into the conduit of His Grace to a graceless world, including all the partners to our various conflicts.
This was very good. I applaud that you took a subject that has become the elephant in just about every room and talked about it openly. There is a lot in this.
I am a person of strong opinions and emotions, with a passion for justice and for truth. This can become toxic very quickly if I don’t bow to Jesus with every breath.
And I see this everywhere now, this all consuming hate. It’s one reason I know He will be coming soon. We can no longer disagree; everything is a grudge match. Ideas are blood sport.
It’s a struggle to love the morbidly evil and gratuitously cruel, I won’t lie. But the longer I follow Jesus the more light shines into dark places—and so I look, even if I want to turn away from the me that can sometimes be in those places of hatred—I still look. Because Jesus is worth my all.
Hatred is a major source of conflict in this world, though it is not the only one. The fact is that conflict is the natural state of human nature. We live conflicted lives of self-centeredness. If we are not drawn to internal conflict, with double-mindedness and second-guessing ourselves, we are conflicted with our neighbours, friends, and family. Ultimately, the principal conflict is between God and ourselves.
One of the greatest gifts God gave to humanity through the Gospel is the conflict-resolution aspects of His influence. He leads us to peace, the Shalom that is so much more than the lack of conflict. When pursued properly, it ends the hatred source of conflict. The Spirit provides the possibility of the motivations of God's overwhelming love as He forms us into the conduit of His Grace to a graceless world, including all the partners to our various conflicts.
👏👏👏