Don't Hate

When I was in third grade I met someone that would be my absolute BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD EVER. She was literally my rock, my world. I loved her like my sister. We were inseperable until College. I would like to set the tone for the type of person I was BEFORE I became a Christian, before she and I were no longer friends. I was not a nice person. I treated people terribly. I would not like someone because of the color of their hair or because they weren't on my 'list.' I thought the world revolved around me, and in my group of friends, I wanted things to go MY way and that was it. I was disrespectful, made fun of people daily, and in a split second could turn on you just cause I didn't like you. My friend put up with this our ENTIRE friendship. She really just let me walk all over her. Until one day she just stopped talking to me. She didn't call me anymore. She didn't come over. She didn't answer my phone calls. She got a boyfriend, moved into an apartment with another friend, and literally cut me off. Can you blame her. Imagine having a friend like me. I was there for you when I wanted to be, I helped you only if I thought it was a good idea. I got mad at you because you didn't do what I wanted. I was a selfish friend. I wasn't a good friend. I wasn't a good person.
College was probably the worst two years of my life. I was depressed. My best friend didn't talk to me any more, my other best friend moved half way across the country, my grandmother and my great grandmother died. WOW. Talk about being alone. Thankfully God put s few people in my life that really helped me through it. I became a Christian. One day I woke up and I realized WHY She didn't want my friendship any more. Can I tell you how that was the BEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE FOR ME.
It was a huge wake up call and I decided I needed to change myself before I can be the friend God intended me to be, the person God wants me to be, the person God MADE ME TO BE. I decided that hating people is not the way to go. EVERYONE in this world has trials, problems, bad days, and horrible situations that they go through. Why should I make their life any more difficult. Show them love. Show them niceness and kindness. God made me that way. God wants us to be nice and kind to people. I want to represent the God I serve with the utmost respect. I want to treat people the way Jesus would treat them. I want to love all people equally.
Second. Think about the prson you dislike the most in your life. Think about your enemy, someone you absolutely CAN NOT stand. Im gonna ask you this. How much energy do you WASTE EVERYDAY thinking about that person. How much time do you put into your reasonings for disliking them? It takes more energy to hatre or dislike someone thatn it's even worth. Trust me, I've lived it. I've hated people for no reason and I've hated people for such "good reasons" for things they did to me said to me, etc. Think about how you could channel that energy of hate into something else, a hobby a craft, a jog, a walk, spending time with your kids, helping your friends, or family, shopping , planning a vacation. Whatever you want to do. Take that Hatred and Use it to your advantage.
Last week, I sat in church, and Pastor preached this message that totally hit home for me. It was from the book of Ephessians and while, I dont remember the exact message or versus, I do remember thinking how true it was. I know it is sooo hard to love your enemy and love one another. But I can promise you your life will be so much more rewarding if you do this.
I am also gonna say how rewarding it is for me when I hear people tell me that I am the nicest, kindest person they ever met. I love hearing them tell me how I represent Christianity wonderfully, and I love thinking that God is SO proud of me for this.
I know this isn't easy to do, and I'm not saying that you are gonna be able to do this overnight. I am sure that there are people out there that just treat you so badly and maybe do make it easy for you to not like them, but why not just ignore them. Why add fuel to the fire, let them be, let them have their bad day or whatever they are going through. Kill them with Kindness. This might not be life changing for them and they still may give you the dirtiest looks and the worst snickers, but hey at least you are being the bigger person. And there may be ONE person out there that needs you to be nice to them. One person that NEEDS you to ignore them or stop talking to them because they aren't nice. God knows, I needed my best friend to stop talking to me, to ignore me. I needed her to do that for me. And Thank God she did!