“The great danger of giving up on love is that we begin to give in to hate.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, (2006-11-14) from his book, Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit (p. 16). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

And hate will consume you.  It is all encompassing.  That is why love is so important.

It is amazing how love overlooks the small stuff but hate sees everything.  Nothing goes unnoticed even things that aren’t there.  Hate takes little things and builds its own stories to prove that you should hate.  The story doesn’t even have to be the truth.

Love is life giving but hate kills.  It kills relationships. It kills hope and it can even kill you.  Love is your best friend and hate is your worst enemy.

Erwin also says, “When we love, we are moved toward forgiveness. When we allow hate to take over, we begin to live for vengeance.”

People aren’t perfect.  Even people we love so there is always a choice to be had when we are hurt.  We can dwell on it, build on it, let it consume us which in turn turns to bitterness then to hate or we can forgive them.  And the sooner you forgive the fewer scars there are to heal.  The longer you hold on the harder it is to forget and to forgive.

Real authentic love gives the other person the benefit of the doubt.  It strives to understand, it tries to allow them to be imperfect. 

So are you consumed by hate or filled with love?