Hate Never Wins
When we read in 1 Corinthians 13 what love is, it is easy to say to ourselves “I do all those things. I’m patient, I’m kind.” Focusing on what love is makes it easy to conclude that we do, in fact, love our neighbors as ourselves. But flip this passage on its head and we see a different picture. Rather than looking at what love is, let’s look at what its opposite is. I know that in doing so I see that I don’t measure up to the ideal of 1 Corinthians 13 as much as I’d like to think I do.
So here is my poem illustrating what the opposite of 1 Corinthians 13 looks like.
Hate Is . . .
Hate is impatient,
toe tapping, eye-rolling,
in a hurry for instant gratification
Hate is mean,
treating others unkindly,
bullying, and insulting
Hate is envious,
not happy for others’ prosperity,
wanting what others have,
and for them not to have it
Hate is boastful,
puffed up, pointing to self-accomplishments,
not recognizing contributions of others
Hate is not humble,
but is arrogant, filled with hubris
proudly thinking oneself better than all,
pretentious and vain, always vain
Hate is rude,
abusive and insulting, vulgar,
disrespectful, and never caring for others
Hate is self-seeking,
it’s-all-about-me attitude,
selfish and egotistical, self-important
Hate is easily angered,
irritated by the slightest mistake,
hot-headed, unwilling to forgive
Hate keeps a record of wrongs,
every little sin catalogued and indexed,
ready as part of its arsenal of hostility
Hate delights in evil,
revels in rebelling against authority,
is pleased to go its own way
Hate despises truth,
closes its ears to teaching,
refuses instruction and correction
Hate attacks,
harms loved ones and strangers alike,
injures all in its way without care
Hate distrusts,
lacks faith in God or anything,
doubts there is anything good
Hate despairs,
has no hope for a future,
lives in misery and sorrow
Hate gives up,
at the smallest obstacle it gives in,
is defeated by the tiniest tribulation
Hate never wins
2 Responses
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Oh, wow, this hits hard.