Hate Vs. Love

I watched Judge Jeanine Pirro yesterday (yes I watch court shows) and there are always some disturbing cases. One such case was a young homosexual man who was asking advice on hate crimes related to sexual orientation. He described an incident and was wondering if could be considered a hate crime and if so what should he do about it. Basically he was with his boyfriend at a bar and felt that everyone was watching them. When they got up to leave some people verbally harassed them but nothing else. When they got to their car there was an obscene word written in ketchup on their windshield.

Now I don't want to get into the whole homosexual debate, but what this Pirro episode made me think is: Who has the time and puts forth the energy to do something hateful like that? I mean seriously, when is it ok to hurt someone emotionally or physically with that kind of hatred? You can have your difference of opinion but actually putting it into action like that is just wrong and I don't know about everyone else but I have better things to be doing. I thought society was super busy and had no free time but apparently some do and waste it on menial tasks like this.

I also think about Jesus and how he hung out with these kind of people. If Jesus were walking the earth today, this is probably the kind of guy he would go talk to, maybe even hangout with. Jesus was always seen with the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the shunned ones of society. Jesus wasn't writing obscene words in the sand about these people, but showing them love and forgiving their misgivings. Christians know these are tough shoes to fill, impossible really, least I know I've been judgmental of people like that, always trying everyday to do better.

But Jesus used his free time to spread love to the love-lacking and we can see what kind of impact he left on the earth. I hope in your free time you'll choose love over hate, I know I'm trying to as well. I'm not saying we have to be tolerant of everything, the Bible does talk about speaking the truth in love, but I think we need to love people first before "attacking" them for their sins, as we so often come across as doing. I guess my point is: between hate and love, choose love; and don't waste your spare time. I think if we could all do that, the world might be a little better of a place.