Hate crimes and who it is that we should really hate

Crimes against anyone (including animals) are despicable, hate crimes being one of the most horrific and disgusting.  It just pains me to my heart to hear anything about that kind of thing happening.   I don’t even like to see a movie about a specific incident- it makes me so disgusted and feel so helpless and wish I could have been there to stop it.

 I have put my money where my mouth is.  Thankfully, none of my family or friends have been victims of hate crimes, but I have friends who when we were younger have certainly been bullied which could have escalated into hate crimes.  I however, being the fiercely protective friend, stood by them which even included making sure they were never alone when out and confronting the bully or bullies. Back then, I was much less interested in talking things out then acting out, so my confronting was pretty aggressive.   After this, my friends were never bothered again and some of the bullies even became friendly with me! 

I know this kind of thing has been going on since the time of Cain and Abel, but that doesn’t make it any better. 

And for what?   Does it make the perpetrator feel better about themselves?  It definitely should not.  In fact, it should make them feel quite the opposite.  Do they feel they have to “give” that person a lesson?  If anything, they need to look at themselves and give their own self a lesson!  Leave any correction needed to the Lord, who will do it in His own way.  You are crossing a dangerous line when you put yourself in the role of the Lord!  Make no mistake, God will not be mocked!   

We are not to impose our beliefs on others (and that means us Christians as well- we can tell people what the Bible says and then let the Holy Spirit open up the individual’s heart- until that time, we just should continue showing that person the embodiment of what Jesus taught, and that is simply to love your neighbor as yourself).  Who is your neighbor, you may ask?  It's more than just the person who lives next door.  When Jesus talked about neighbor, he meant everyone who touches your life! 

Who are we to judge?  We are all sinners and we all would be condemned to a life in hell if it wasn’t for Jesus’ saving grace.  All sin is deplorable in God’s eyes, but all is forgivable as well, save one- the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (more about that in a future post).  

So yes, who are we to judge someone just because they are different?   When you look at it, judgment in that sense is just a form of cowardice.  It’s putting the spotlight on what someone else is doing to take it off of yourself and what YOU are doing.   People are always scared of what they don’t understand and what is “different”.  By no means does that give anyone the excuse to lash out about it.  Animals don’t even do that.  Does that mean that they may be more intelligent than us after all?  Leave any judgment to God, where it belongs.  You don’t want to find yourself being harshly judged by the same measure you’ve put out.  Remember, what you do ALWAYS comes back to you, two and three times worse!!  I see it happen all of the time with my own eyes.

The bottom line is that we were created by God to worship Him, fellowship with Him and continue His work on Earth until He returns by spreading His word and ministering to others.  It’s as simple as that. 

What does ministering to others mean?  It means that you are to help and reach out to others in love, with no question.  It means that as human beings, we are to show each other kindness, respect, compassion and love.  Anything contrary to that is of satan.  Let’s not forget that he is the real enemy, and therefore, the only one who we should direct our hatred toward.