Sunday Reflection: Haters will Hate

There’s a lot of hate in the world, but there’s a lot of love, too.

This week in Springfield Missouri a young girl was grabbed off the street by an adult man (witnessed) who actually worked for the school she attended (fact) and (allegedly) murdered her.

People hate this man which is a normal reaction, but some people are hating the witnesses for allegedly standing by and doing nothing to stop the man from abducting the little girl, which of course is not true. The adults in the neighborhood tried to stop him and phoned in his license plate number. One young man followed the perpetrator’s pickup as far as he could while calling law enforcement. People have also shown hate for the school district for employing the alleged perp since 1998, yet he had no criminal record then. There were hateful remarks toward the family of the little girl, too.

Hate is a powerful tool, but not a good one. Hate attempted killing entire races and religions. Hate started wars. Hatred spurs revenge and beyond.

There’s also a lot of love inside the hearts of mankind and when demonstrated reaches to the heavens and back.

This week, all over the world people turned a porch light on to honor the little girl they didn’t know. Last night over nine thousand people attended a candle lighting service in Springfield. A motorcycle organization stood off a cult-church who came to protest their hate for Springfield, Missouri. Acts of love are everywhere.

Every single day children are abused and neglected or murdered by people. We need to keep this in mind that children are always in danger. They need to be protected. It’s normal that hate will swell inside our hearts for the loss of innocence, but hate is not productive. Hate wounds the person who hates and impairs effectiveness. In contrast, a righteous anger paired with love is more fruitful thereby helping us to live as a civilized world.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 2 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

Blessings,

Teresa

 

Sources: Holy Bible at BibleGateway.com