Many will say, "hate" is a very strong word. Indeed it is. And we sure hear this word often. Out of anger or a moment of outburst we often hear one raising his voice, "I HATE YOU!" Maybe even you yourself have been guilty of using those 3 words on a friend, foe or even a family member. I search the dictionary and found the definiton of this word-

No wonder John said, "The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together." (1 John 3:14-15) The Message Bible.

It is evil to say to someone you hate a person. Because like the verse says, he who hates is a murderer! Wait wait. A MURDERER? Are you kidding? I didn't kill that person. Well, you may not have, physically took that man's life, but in your heart, that person is already dead, he don't deserve what he can get, he don't deserve mercy, he don't deserve forgiveness. But when one goes too far, his thoughts may even be led to evil, saddistic thoughts- e.g. that person don't deserve to live (in other words, he deserves to die).

Well, as much as you may dislike a person, if your hatred reaches that point, and you are having evil thoughts of things that are bad and unfortunate to strike that person. Then that is way beyond your boundaries. Even though one may say, "B-but it's only a thought! I didn't actually do it!" Well you thought about it, and there's a saying, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

Hating a person won't solve the problem. It'll add more problems, more salt to the already damaged wound, it'll add more weight and burden. Hate and resentment only make one feels worst at the end of the day, it harms both parties. We can see that all around the world now, look at the rate of the hate-crimes, it's going up, the war doesn't seem to stop. Hate amongst nations, amongst races, causes all these casualties. Yet, since we were young we were taught to make "Peace" not War. Well, as long as hate exists there is no end to the vicious cycle of deaths and suffering.

The total opposite of hate is love. When you say you love someone, it is a choice you make. The person may not deserve it, but still you choose to do it. That is love. Real love, is "agape" which means, unconditional. It doesn't have a condition, a checklist, no. Unconditonal.

A poem I came up with:

"This is the test.

Do you still love when you are hated?

Do you still give when you are poor?

Do you still habe faith in times of fear?

Do you still run when you're tired?

Do you still fight for what is right?

For this determines your character."

So here's the question, do you choose to love or to hate?

-i forgive